Unknown SOLDIER
by OmegaKawaiiCloud
Summary: "Baby girl, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I'll Protect you with my life."
1. Preface

**A/N:**

**X Hey kiddos! :D I'm really hyper but anyway, I read some story on here that made me love the pairing of Lightning and Zack. However, it's not gonna be like that story. At all. Lolz. This story might take a while to kick off, kay? Kay.**

**X This story is kinda based off the song Give Me a Sign by Breaking Benjamin.**

**X I don't own Final Fantasy XIII or VII. If I did, that would be epic. But sadly, I don't.**

_Preface_

Vanille

I was excited to be back with Fang, but an ark wasn't exactly my idea of fun. I hadn't seen Hope, Snow, or Lightning in awhile; it was good to see they were all alright. Snow wasn't exactly the happy large teddy bear he usually was after hearing Serah's focus. Hope kept close to Lightning. And Lightning was, well, Lightning. She would run off ahead of us, and then when she realized we were all way too behind, she would wait. She wouldn't exactly turn to look at us, but she would wait. It was a gesture I was sure no one else noticed.

It made me realize even Lightning didn't want to be alone. She may act like it, but why would she make sure we were following? She could handle a majority of the fiends by herself and avoid the ones she couldn't.

I decided Hope was the answer.

"Hey Hope!" I called, jumping a little. The boy turned around, curious.

"Yeah Vanille?" He answered, pausing a moment for me to catch up to him. I made sure Lightning was out of earshot before I started.

"Why is Lightning always so cold?" Hope blinked a little, before he looked at the ground, puzzled.

"She told me she lost her parents, but other than that, I think it's just because she's a soldier, ya know? She really does care, just takes her time to warm up to people." He answered, before adding "I think." I nodded. And that was the end of the conversation.

After a long progression of events, and both Hope and Fang obtaining Eidolons, figuring out Lightning crept back into my mind. Lightning was that person you wanted to be friends with, but you didn't know how to reach them. We were all sitting by a fire after a day of completing cie'th focuses. Lightning had agreed to a couple, and Hope managed to get her to agree to a couple more. Now, Hope, Sazh and Snow were asleep.

"Hey Light." Fang waved her hand in front of Lightning's face before Lightning looked at Fang.

"What?" she spat, obviously annoyed. Fang only chuckled.

"Why do you have such a soft spot for the boy over there?" Fang jerked her head in the direction of Hope, adding a smirk. Lightning looked at Hope before turning her head back to Fang.

"He reminds me of myself, a little." She answered.

"How so?" I asked before I realized I was speaking. Lightning's attention turned towards me.

"What is this, 20 questions?" She sighed, "When I lost my Mother, I was a little lost, like Hope." I smiled. This was the first time Lightning was actually speaking. I crawled over to Fang and took a seat next to her. Fang and I were both now directly in front of Lightning. She sat against a large tree, her arms crossed over her chest. She was looking at the ground, deep in thought. She didn't have her usual scowl on her face, but she looked rather sad. I felt bad, as I realized she must've been thinking about her mother.

Fang didn't seem to feel bad about it.

"How'd she die?" Fang asked. I nudged Fang before saying "That's a rather touchy subject, don't you think?" Fang only shrugged in response before turning to Lightning.

Lightning's face was a peculiar sight. She still looked sad, her eyes expressed pure horror, her mouth twitching as if she was trying to say it out loud.

"She was killed. In front of me." Lightning's voice came out in a very low whisper. Now I felt terrible. It was easy to see people you didn't care about die in front of you, but not someone that close. Fang's face showed guilt.

"I'm sorry." Fang managed out. Lightning shook her head, before placing her head in her knees. A rather loud and completely uncalled for snore came from the direction of Snow. I looked over to see him out cold, his head on a rock. Lightning's head shot up, but she placed it back on her knees slowly, scowling at Snow.

After about 20 minutes of awkward silence, Fang fell asleep. I couldn't sleep.

"She was dying anyway." Lightning said softly. I looked over at her, curious. She was completely out of character. Small tears were falling down her face, but she made no sound. She was staring up at the sky.

After a while, Lightning spoke again, "You know that saying, the one where if one lovebird dies the other one does too? That's kind of what happened. My father died, and she got sick. My brother had to get a better job, to pay her bills, so he went off to work at something called SOLDIER. The money he sent was enough to pay her bills, but I had to get a job to pay for everything else." I knew she wasn't exactly talking to me, but I listened closely anyway.

"I never knew you had a brother." I said softly. She nodded.

"His name was Cloud." She answered. I caught the was, but I didn't question it.

After yet another pause, Lightning said, "It was like that for a while. And everyday my mom got sicker. And then…." I knew what she was trying to say.

"You don't have to tell me any more if it bothers you." I said, trying to be comforting. She looked at me and nodded, before smiling.

"Thank you." She whispered. I cocked my head to the side before asking,

"For what?" She smiled at me once more before looking back up at the sky.

"For listening." She answered simply. I beamed.

"Anytime you need a set of ears. You can borrow mine." I chirped. She looked at me, before smiling weakly. I fell asleep afterwards.

Xx

The next few days passed by quickly. I spent most of the time with Fang, stepping in to a fight if I was needed. Lightning went back to her usual self, relentlessly killing everything in her path. I often wondered if Lightning enjoyed killing. She seemed like it.

Mah'habara felt like torture. I felt we were walking around aimlessly.

"I'm going to go up ahead." Lightning said as she lived up to her name and bolted out of sight. That wasn't a problem until there came a fork in the road.

"What do we do now?" Snow said. Hope pointed to the left, "Um, that one?"

Looking down the other path, I could see Lightning. I turned to tell everyone, but they had already headed down the left path. Conflicted, I ran towards Lightning. She looked at me, before asking,

"Where is everyone?"

"They went down the other path, they thought you went down that one." Lightning let out a grunt.

"It's a dead end. They'll realize that in a minute." She said. I felt nervous about Fang

"Can we go back anyway?" I asked, adding a sheepish grin. Lightning sighed before nodding.

It was a rather interesting sight. Everyone was at the dead end, staring at it. A glyph was there, glowing an odd purplish hue.

Before anyone could say anything, Snow's hand outstretched and touched the glyph.


	2. Chapter One Why?

**X Ohai, it has been a while, hasn't it? The preface was kinda bad, so hopefully this shall be better, hopefully. :D**

**X Ima seriously alter the progression of events. Don't like it? Don't read it. But please, give it a try.**

**X Reviews make me happy inside. Yupper :]**

_Chapter One- Why?_

Snow look around, dumbstruck. The scenery had changed from the Mah'habara cave to a building. Dirt walls had changed cement ones. Instead of pure darkness, lit corridors and even a couple windows here and there covered the walls. Roaming fiends were now replaced by human beings. Of course, only two beside the group of the L'cie were there.

There was a very tall, and muscular man doing squats. His Black spiky hair moved with his head. Another, was walking towards the one doing squats, a helmet covering his face. Both wore similar uniforms.

"Hey, Zack. You seem a little on edge." The helmeted man said. The Spiky haired man grunted from another squat before saying,

"Can you blame me? All this-" He grunted, "Training, and no assignments, Like they're hanging me out to dry. You must be pretty busy, with everyone off base." He was now panting. The man with the helmet sat down lazily next to Zack.

"Hey-" Snow began, but Lightning cut him off.

"They can't hear you. This is a memory." She said, watching Zack. Hope was about to say something, but Fang quieted him.

"Off base? Wait haven't you heard? There's been a mass desertion at SOLDIER." The man with the helmet answered, standing up. This caused Zack to stop doing squats and an audible "huh?" came out of him.

Xx

The scenery changed. Zack was walking into an office. A man who looked like him but much older and a blonde man was sitting down. The blonde man stood up upon seeing Zack.

"Zack. It's good to finally meet face to face. Lazard, director of SOLDIER." The man said, holding out his hand to Zack. Zack looked at it, before taking it and shaking it.

"Heya." He said. Lazard chuckled before looking at his computer.

"On to business." He said, and began typing something. Zack walked over and looked curiously. A projector popped up showing a man's picture.

"SOLDIER, 1st class Genesis" Lazard began. The older black haired man looked down, sadly.

"A month ago, he went missing on a mission in Wutai. Know anything about this?" Lazard continued. Zack held his hands up shaking his head.

"Not a clue" Zack answered. Lazard nodded.

"The mission is currently stuck in limbo. That's why we've decided to send you." Lazard said, looking at Zack.

"Uh, to Wutai?" Zack said, confused. Lazard nodded before saying,

"Yes. This war has gone on long enough."

"I've recommended you for 1st." The older black haired man said. Zack looked at him, surprised and overjoyed.

"Angeal! I love you man! Angeal!" Zack laughed and hugged him, before Angeal pushed him off.

"Don't make me regret this Zack." Angeal said, smiling a little. Zack straightened.

"Sir!" He said.

Xx

The scenery stayed the same, and it took Snow a moment to realize it was a new memory.

"What was your dream? To become 1st?" Lazard said. Zack turned around and said,

"No, to become a hero!" Snow smiled. This guy was beginning to sound a little like him. Lazard chuckled at Zack.

"Good. Unattainable dreams are the best kind." Zack looked at him, a little disappointed before saying,

"Uh, Thanks?"

Xx

Snow looked over to see a smiling Lightning. He blinked and looked at her once more, to see she truly was smiling. She looked a little sad, but she was smiling. Her face changed as she watched the next memory.

Zack was slumped against a wall, holding his sword out. A huge ogre- like monster was towering above him. Just as the monster was about to swing, it was cut down from behind. It fell with a huge thud, and Zack lowered his sword. Angeal was behind it, removing his large sword from the monster's back.

"That's one more you owe me." Angeal said, walking over to Zack. "You lost your focus."

"Uh, yeah." Zack said, rubbing his eyes. He lookedover at Angeal. "Oh sorry if your sword got any wear, tear, or rust on it." He said. Angeal swung it onto his back.

"You're a little more important than my sword."He said, before turning around and smiling. "But just a little."

Xx

The surroundings looked like they were back on Pulse, but in a new area. If Snow hadn't seen 4 men including Zack, he would've thought the glyph was over. It was a snowy mountain. Zack and a recruit were ahead of a man with a suit and another recruit.

Zack turned around and called to the other two men. "Yo! Don't fall too far behind!" He turned around and started to walk again. He looked to the recruit walking beside him.

"At least someone's keeping up." He said.

"Well, I'm a country boy too." The recruit responded. Zack slowed to a stop.

"From where?" Zack said, smiling.

"Nibelheim." said the recruit. Zack turned away from him and laughed.

"How bout you?" The recruit said, taking a step forward. Zack turned around to face him.

"Me? Gongaga." He answered. It was the recruit's turn to laugh. Zack took offense.

"Hey! What's so funny about that! You know Gongaga?" He said, pointed to the recruit. The recruit shook his head.

"No, but it such a backwater name." He replied.

"Ditto Nibelheim." Zack said.

"Like you've been there." The recruit said, walking toward Zack who had started to walk again. Zack paused.

"I haven't, but there's a reactor out there, right?" Zack said. The recruit nodded. "A mako reactor outside Midgar usually means,"

"Nothing else out there." Both men said in unison. They broke into laughter. Zack turned to the man in the suit.

"Good news Tseng! Me and," He paused to look at the recruit, who took off his helmet.

"Cloud." He said, smiling.

"Me and Cloud here are both backwater experts. Oh yeah!" Zack said, pumping his fists.

Xx

As Snow blinked, the four men were now by a fire. All of them were lying down, but only Tseng and the other recruit were asleep.

"Hey Cloud, what's your family like?" Zack said, looking up at the stars. Cloud sat up, looking at Zack.

"Well, I have a mother, who's dying, and two sisters, Claire and Serah. My mom got sick after my father died. I left Nibelheim for Shinra to pay bills." Cloud said. He was looking down at the ground. Zack looked at him.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to make ya sad or anything, I was just wondering." Zack said. Cloud shook his head.

"Just thinking. Nothing you did." Cloud said, closing his eyes. Zack sat up.

"What are you thinking about?" He said, nudging Cloud. Cloud laid back down, before answering him.

"Claire." He said simply. Zack tilted his head to the side.

"Your sister? What about her?" He said. Cloud looked over at Zack.

"She's too pretty for her own good. And I know what you're thinking. I love her because she is my sister. Not the way you're thinking." Cloud chuckled.

"I didn't say I was thinking that." Zack said, laughing.

"Your face said it for you." Cloud's laughter grew. Once their laughter died down, Zack spoke up.

"So how is Claire too pretty for her own good?" Zack leaned back, eventually falling over onto his back. An audible sigh came from the direction of Cloud.

"She kept bringing home complete utter scumbags that were much older than her. I would just kick them out. She would always throw a fit but then we'd be best friends again the next day. The fourth guy I kicked out, well, that didn't happen." Cloud let out a dark laugh.

"Why am I telling you this? I just met you today!" He continued. Zack laughed.

"Lemme take a guess. I'm the only guy that hasn't yelled any orders at you yet." Zack said. Both laughed.

"That's probably it." Cloud replied, chuckling.

"Ya now, Now that you've started a story, you're expected to finish it. Don't worry, I won't make fun or tell anyone. Promise." Zack said smiling at Cloud. Cloud smiled lightly, before frowning.

"She said she," Cloud paused, distressed. "Hated me. In all our fights she never said she hated me. The next day I had to leave for Shinra. I spent the whole night apologizing. I would've been happy if she never forgave, as long as she took back that she hated me. But I needed this job, I couldn't stay any longer." Once Cloud had finished, he looked away.

"If there's one thing I learned about girls, it's that they dig older guys. She was just miffed at you, Cloud. She doesn't hate you. She just knew it would get to you." Zack said, looking back up at the sky. "How old is your sister?"

"Which one, Claire? She's 15 now. Serah's 12." Cloud answered.

"15? And she's bringing home older guys? Like how old are we talking about?" Zack asked.

"Like 25 old." Cloud laughed darkly.

"Jeez! Nibelheim's full of pedophiles! I thought we talking, like 3 or 4 years tops, but 10?" Zack said, half jokingly. Cloud laughed again.

"You're telling me." Both broke into laughter again.

"Hey, how bout you? You got a special someone? Hopefully around our age." They both laughed again.

"Maybe. She's around my age though. You can relax." Cloud answered after awhile, "She wants to get married." Cloud shook his head.

"Wow, marriage. I don't think I'll marry anytime soon. I mean, what if I marry the girl and then it doesn't work out. That's a huge waste of money for a wedding. Unless one hell of a girl comes along, I think I'll wait." Zack looked over at Cloud, who nodded in agreement.

Xx

Zack was now standing over Angeal, who was slowly dying. Zack was on the verge of crying.

"Zack, you have my thanks." Angeal said, smiling up at him. Zack knelt down to him.

"This is for you." Angeal held up the Buster Sword. Zack looked at it, before looking down at Angeal, who nodded. Zack began to cry. He took the Buster sword with both hands.

"Protect your honor, always." Angeal spoke his last words, before smiling and then dying. An audible gasp came out of Zack before he continued to cry. He stood, before holding the Buster sword before him. Angeal's voice could be heard.

"Embrace your dreams. If you want to be a hero you need to have dreams, and honor." Rain poured down.

Xx

Zack was running into the remains a burned down house. Parts of the house were still on fire.

"Cloud?" He called, "Cloud you in here?" Zack walked into a living and winced at the sight of the remains of a brutally stabbed woman. Zack knelt down to her, gently closing her eyes. He stood, clenching his fists.

A quiet sob was heard. Zack looked around wildly until his eyes landed on a pink haired girl curled into a ball in a corner of the room. Zack carefully walked towards her. Gently, he knelt down and placed his hands on her shoulders. The girl's head snapped up and immediately began to push Zack away. Her eyes were clenched shut.

"No! Let go of me!" She yelled. Zack retracted his hands. She whimpered, before scooting closer to the corner, away from Zack.

"You're Claire, aren't you? You're Cloud's sister. Come on let's get you out-" Zack said softly.

"Who are you? How do you know Cloud? Why are you here? Get away from me! Let go!" the girl interrupted.

"I did let go of you." Zack said. The girl's azure eyes snapped open.

Snow gasped. It was _Lightning._ He looked over to the older Lightning, who was now turned away from the memory, her eyes clenched shut. Snow's attention turned back to the younger _Claire_.

"What do you want from me? I didn't do anything!" She yelled. Gently, Zack crawled closer to her, resulting in her crawling away from him.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Claire. Cloud is my friend. Let's get you out of here." Zack tried comforting her. Claire paused, staring into Zack's eyes. They held sincerity and sympathy. Claire visibly relaxed before allowing her eyes to wander the room. Snow took notice on how she avoided the dead woman's body. Slowly, she pointed to something behind Zack. Zack looked back, eyeing a messenger bag.

"Hmm? You want that?" Zack stood and retrieved the bag. When he turned around, his eyes widened.

"Oh! Your knee!" He cried. He knelt down before Claire, and lightly placed his hand on the badly wounded knee that was beginning to turn an unnatural yellow. She gently took the bag out of Zack's other hand, unsure of if he might suddenly snap at her. She pointed at a burnt table, which held a burnt picture frame. The picture was slightly burned at the edges, but it remained intact. It contained an older pink haired woman and Blonde haired man along with two pink haired little girls and a blonde haired boy.

She nudged Zack to get his attention. He looked up at her, before the picture. He reached over and took hold of it, before placing it gently in Claire's hands. Very carefully, Claire placed in the bag Zack retrieved earlier. A support beam broke and fell on the other side of the room. Zack gently picked Claire up bridal style before running out of the house.

"We'll fix your knee up later," Zack said before breaking into a run. Claire grabbed hold of his neck.

Xx

Zack gently place Claire behind a rock, before standing.

"Now, don't go anywhere, I'll be right back. I promise." He said, before running off.

Xx

Zack awoke on his back in a prison cell. He looked around before his eyes landed on what looked like a small chocobo.

"Cloud!" He yelled, before rushing over to him. He shook the blonde haired man roughly. Cloud's eyes snapped open.

"What? What happened? Tifa!" Cloud yelled, rushing to his feet and shaking the prison bars. Zack jokingly pushed Cloud aside.

"Okay, calm down, Zangan took Tifa, remember? She's alright. And bars usually don't come down with just a shake." Zack said, pulling the Buster sword off his back. "Jeez, you think this would be the first thing they took away." Zack easily swung the Buster sword into the wall behind them, creating a path for them to escape out of.

"Cloud!" a small girl's voice cried. Cloud's head snapped behind him to find a small pink-haired girl.

"Serah!" He ran toward the girl and embraced her. The girl struggled out his grasp.

"Cloud! They took away Claire! You have to go save her!" She yelled.

"Wait, I made sure she was safe. Where was she when they found her?" Zack said walking up to Serah and Cloud.

"She was coming to get me. She hid me when the fire started at the school and ran back into the town to get Mom. This is all my fault!" She wailed. She had begun crying during her story.

"It's not your fault." Cloud said, hugging the girl.

"It's no big deal. We just have to go and take her back!" Zack exclaimed. Serah looked at him and smiled shyly. She looked at Cloud, who stood and nodded at her.

"Let's go get Claire."


	3. Chapter Two Materia

**X Hi! I didn't update because I have finals, so it took me some time to get this finished. I'm rather proud of myself, haha.**

**X Remember, I seriously altering the story line. If you don't like it don't read it. I would love if you gave it a try though. :D**

_Chapter 2- Materia_

Zack walked around a path, looking around. He seemed to be alone.

"Claire! Cl-"Zack yelled. He was stopped by a grunt. Zack looked down to see he was stepping on a Shinra recruit. Zack immediately stepped away from him, muttering apologies. When he stepped forward, a mess of pink hair came at him. As Claire aimed to attack, she lost her footing and tripped into Zack's arms. It seemed to take a minute for Zack to process this was Claire.

"Hey I thought I told you to stay put. And you really shouldn't be walking with that knee." Zack said, pulling some twigs out of Claire's hair. Claire tried pushing away from Zack, but it only resulted in her slumping forward into his chest. Zack tried picking her up, but she pushed away from him. Unable to support her own weight, she fell backwards. Zack caught her easily. She pushed her arms out in an attempt to push Zack away.

"Why can't you Shinra fuckballs leave me be?" She said, exhausted. She was no longer fighting Zack.

"I'm trying to help you Claire. Come on, Cloud and Serah are looking around for you too. Let's go find them. Claire gave Zack a look.

"How can I trust you?" She whispered lightly, looking directly into Zack's eyes.

"You can't, but right now, I'm all you've got." Zack said lightly. He made his intention clear that he wanted to pick her up. She allowed him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Standing straight, Zack broke into a run.

Xx

Zack stopped running and started to walk.

"Cloud! Serah!" Claire yelled from Zack's arms. Both Cloud and Serah whipped their heads around towards Claire and Zack.

"Claire!" They both yelled. They ran to Claire and Zack as Claire tried to get out of Zack's arms. When Cloud and Serah reached them, Zack put her down lightly. She took a step forward and fell the rest of the way into Cloud's arms. She broke into sobs.

"Cloud! I'm sorry I said I hated you! I'm sorry I got mad at you! I didn't mean all those things I said to you!"Claire sobbed into Cloud's shoulder. "I was so worried about you." She added, whispering.

"The look of relief on Cloud's face was unimaginable. He hugged Claire tightly.

"No, I'm sorry. I should've just talked to you first." Cloud said softly.

Serah gently nudged Claire's arm, before taking it and wrapping it around her shoulder, taking some of Claire's weight. Both Claire and Cloud smiled at her. Cloud gently wrapped his arm around her.

Their little family moment didn't last long. Gun shots were fired at them. Zack immediately took action and blocked the bullets with the Buster Sword.

"Claire! Serah! Take cover! You ready Cloud?" Zack yelled. Serah helped Claire limp over behind a rock as Cloud nodded. Zack and Cloud charged.

"Cloud!" Serah's small voice yelled. Zack and Cloud's heads whipped behind them too see Claire fighting Shinra recruits off. She wasn't doing terrible either. At once, they all tackled her and grabbed her by the waist and all of them started running away.

Zack immediately sprinted towards them, cutting down anyone in his path. He easily took Claire away from the recruits and cut them down as well. Claire leaned against Zack, desperately trying to stand on her own.

"Zack!" Cloud yelled. Zack's head turned around to see an explosion going off. Zack stepped in front of Claire, shielding her. The blast sent both of them flying off a nearby cliff.

As they fell, Zack reached for Claire, who gladly accepted his hand. He brought her up so he would fall first, and she would bounce off of him.

Zack let out a pain-filled cry as his back connected with the ground. An unnatural crack could be heard. Before Zack could process anything, Claire fell on top of him, and bounced directly next to him. More unnatural cracks were heard. Zack was beginning to lose consciousness.

Claire got up quickly and crawled towards him. She shook him violently.

"Don't you dare pass out on me!" She yelled. Slapping him, she managed to get him a little more awake, enabling him to speak.

"Pocket… potion…. Quick." He rasped. Claire cautiously reached into his pocket and pulled out a vile of green liquid. Forcing his mouth open, she dumped the contents into his mouth.

"Thanks." He breathed, before falling asleep.

Xx

When Zack awoke, the sun was setting in the distance, high above him. His entire body ached. It wasn't a terrible fall, but it would've been enough to kill Claire; that much he knew.

It took Snow a minute to realize he was able to hear what Zack had been thinking. He looked around to see if anyone else in the group could as well. He caught a glimpse of Lightning, who's eyes were intently staring at the sight before her, a smile slightly perturbing her lips.

"Claire!" Zack cried, sitting upright, wincing as pain overtook him. When he opened his eyes, Claire was in front of him. She was on her hands and knees, the Buster Sword next to her. Her head was cocked slightly to the side, studying Zack.

"It's good to see you're okay." Zack said quietly after a while. Neither of them had moved. She nodded slightly. After another silent moment, Claire spoke up.

"You're okay, right? You're not gonna pass out again, right?" She almost whispered. Zack nodded.

"I don't think I will. I mean, it doesn't feel like I will." Zack answered.

_Smack._

Zack blinked, before reaching his left hand to his face, gently tracing the now-forming red mark shaped like a turkey.

"All right you Shinra bastard, you're gonna pay you hear me? I may not know how yet, but you're gonna pay." Claire seethed. Zack blinked.

"Me? What did I do?" Zack said lightly. He tried to stand, but only fell grunting. Claire pushed him the rest of the way. Zack let out a yelp, gritting his teeth. He sat up against a rock, wincing and clutching his side. He looked over at Claire, who stayed in her spot, gently tracing the outline of the Buster Sword.

"You shouldn't be on that knee like that." Zack almost whispered. Claire glared at him, before turning her head back to the sword. Gently Zack began to heave himself up. Claire looked back over, before gently crawling over to him. Zack smiled and sat back down and gently brought Claire's injured knee into his lap. His hand began to glow a greenish hue.

"What are you doing?" Claire said, trying to retract her knee from Zack's grasp. He gently took hold of her leg, keeping her still.

"Cure." Zack said simply. Claire began to kick and punch.

"No! No cure!" Claire yelled childishly, before wrenching free of Zack's grasp. Zack chuckled.

"No cure? Why not? Claire, it helps you, and it doesn't hurt. I promise." Zack said, trying to take hold of Claire's leg again. She shook her head.

"Because I said so, that's why!" Claire yelled. Zack chuckled again.

"Okay. No cure. But at least let me bandage it." Claire shook her head and backed away from him. Zack blinked.

"Claire, you're going to get sick if you don't treat it. It's getting infected." Zack said lightly. Claire turned away from him.

"Heal yourself." She said, turning back to the Buster Sword.

Zack studied Claire. Her pink hair stood on end at some places, dirt splotches here and there. It had been put messily into a braid on one side, her fringe covering part of her eyes. Her small body was only covered by a black tank top and some white shorts. Black boots up to her knees covered her legs.

Her azure eyes are what got to him. It made him realize what Cloud meant by she was too pretty for her own good. She could have you wrapped around her finger by just giving you a puppy dog look.

Zack immediately tried to dismiss all thoughts about Claire. This was Cloud's sister, whom he was _very_ overprotective of. And even if Cloud was okay with him and Claire, he stands no chance of getting Claire to actually look twice at him.

He knew he was falling… hard. All he knew about her was she was Cloud's sister and they had gotten into a fight before he had joined Shinra!

"Is this heavy?" Claire asked softly. Zack snapped out of his trance with a "huh?" Claire looked at him.

"Is this heavy?" Claire repeated. Zack looked over at it, before shrugging.

"A little. Try it out." He said, motioning her to pick it up. She looked at it before hesitantly lifting the handle with both hands. She struggled with it, before placing it back down to its respective place on the ground. Zack chuckled lightly.

After a couple of attempts, Zack managed to stand and removed his shirt. He smiled inwardly as he watched Claire's eyes widen at his chest. He gently placed his hand that began to glow green on his abdomen. Claire intently watched him. Whenever his eyes would flicker up towards her she would turn away clearly embarrassed to be looking at him.

After he was finished, he put his shirt back on and walked towards Claire. She immediately began to crawl backwards, unable to stand herself. He knelt down in front of her.

"Please Claire. Let me help you." He said, reaching out to her leg. She looked at his hand, which was gently placed on her injured knee. He eyes slowly moved back up to his face, before she gently moved away from him and said,

"I'm going to sleep. It's dark now anyway." She crawled over to the space where Zack was sitting before and curled up into a ball. Her azure eyes closed slowly. Zack sighed and took hold of the Buster Sword and sat down next to her. Placing the Buster Sword next to him but away from Claire, he nudged her leg.

"Claire, why do you want to keep this injured knee? It's got to hurt you." Zack realized Claire was shivering. It was _hot_ outside. He was about to say something before she spoke up.

"Because it's not fair that my mother, Cloud and Serah died and all I got was a wounded knee. So let it get infected." Claire whispered, her teeth chattering. She sniffled and tried to wipe away tears before Zack could see them. Zack crawled in front of her and took hold of her hand. Her hand was freezing.

"Claire, I know Cloud. He's too stubborn to die. And I know he wouldn't let anything happen to Serah. And besides, we're the ones that got thrown off a cliff. They must be doing better than us." Zack gave Claire's hand a gentle squeeze.

"And for your mom," Zack paused, "You take it out on me, not you. Okay?" Claire nodded lightly fatigue getting the better of her.

"Thank you." She whispered, her eyelids drooping. Zack took his free hand and placed against her forehead.

"Oh, Claire. You're burning up. The infection got you. Please, let me help you." Zack said worriedly. Claire's brow furrowed.

"No Cure. Bandage it please." She said, trying her best to stay awake. Zack immediately got to work. Pulling out a first aid kit, he cleaned the wound as best he could. He looked up at Claire's face, which was now slightly damp from a cold sweat. She was losing consciousness. Zack immediately pulled a potion out of his pocket and took her head into his hands.

"Claire, here drink this. It'll help." She did as she was told, but she had some trouble swallowing.

"I know, it tastes bad the first couple times you drink it, but it can only help, okay?" He said lightly. Claire managed to swallow the liquid completely. Zack watched as her wound began to close up. It stopped leaving quite a gash, but she would be able to walk now. Taking the bandages, he wrapped her knee as best he could. He looked around to find something to help with her fever. He sighed when he couldn't find anything.

"As for your fever, you're just gonna have to rest, okay? Tell me if you feel any worse." Zack said, lying down next to her. She nodded and unconsciously scooted closer to him, thankful for his warmth. When she realized what she had done, she scooted farther away from him. Zack chuckled lightly.

"I don't bite Claire. If you're cold come here." Zack said gently. Claire's azure eyes were closed and her breathing even. Zack smiled before turning onto his back and began to fall asleep himself.

After a while, Zack felt a small weight on his stomach. His eyes snapped open and looked down. Claire had nestled herself close to him, using his stomach as a pillow. Her eyes were closed as she curled into a ball and wrapped her arms around Zack's mid-section. She didn't seem to notice Zack was awake. Smiling gently, Zack laid his head back down and closed his eyes.

Xx

It was now day and Zack put the Buster Sword back onto his back, Shinra recruits piled at his feet.

"It's okay now, Claire." He said, turning to a large rock. Claire stepped out hesitantly, before walking carefully over to him.

"Oh that's the fifth time you've had to save my ass! I'm tired of always having to hide. Can't I fight with you?" She said, "Don't you have a spare sword that isn't gargantuan?" Zack shook his head.

"Sorry." He said. Claire huffed. Zack cocked his head to the side. It straightened momentarily and a huge grin formed on his face.

"Hey! You can use these!" He said excitedly, pulling out materia. Claire immediately shook her head.

"No. No materia." Claire said, stepping away from him. Zack looked defeated.

"Why not?" He said rather childishly, "I thought you wanted to fight." Claire shook her head.

"Yeah but not with materia!" She claimed, stepping further away from Zack.

"What's wrong with materia?" Zack said, still keeping the childish tone. Claire bit her lip.

"You'll laugh at me." She said looking down at the ground beneath her. Zack shook his head.

"I won't I promise." He said giving Claire an honest look. Claire looked at him, before mumbling something incoherent. Snow tried his best to figure out what she said. Zack caught on.

"You're scared of materia? Claire, it's nothing to be scared about. Here" He said, and took a single stride over to her and gently took her arm. Realizing what he was about to do, she struggled to get her arms free, eyes wide.

"No! It will get stuck in my arm!" Claire yelled, trying desperately to break free of Zack's grip.

"Claire, it won't get stuck in your arm. Here, I'll show you." Zack said, releasing his grip on her arm. He gently placed the materia onto his own arm, before the orb melted into his skin. The orb glowed through his arm momentarily, before going out.

"Fira materia." He said, and the orb started to glow in his arm once more. Then it slowly came out of his skin and back into his hand. He showed it to Claire.

"See? It comes out." He said, gently taking Claire's arm again. "Your fear is easy to overcome Claire; you just have to trust me. Okay?" Claire bit her lip as she watched as Zack pushed the orange orb into her own skin.

"This is Fira." Zack said, the orb glowing in Claire's skin.

"Fira." Claire repeated. A burst of flames came out and burned Zack. He let out a grunt.

"I guess I deserved that." He said, watching Claire giggle.

"You want to know the funny part? I wasn't even tying to burn you." She said giggling some more.

"Oh yeah, fucking hilarious Claire." He said sarcastically before giving her a wide smile. Claire smiled sheepishly. She held her arm out for Zack, and said.

"Okay I won't attack you anymore. What's next?" Zack smiled brightly at her.

"This is Thundara." He said, placing the orb on her arm.

"Wait." She said extracting her arm. Going into her bag, she pulled out an identical yellow orb. Zack looked at her confused.

"Cloud gave it to me as a birthday present. He didn't know I was scared of materia. You're the first person I told, to be honest. I've never been expected to use materia." She said, placing the orb into Zack's hand. She held out her arm again. Zack smiled and placed her materia into her arm. She watched it glow, before going back into her bag again.

"This one too."She said. It was apparent her fear of materia was coming back as she bit her lip.

"This from Cloud too?" Zack asked, before taking the blue Watera orb and placing it into Claire's arm. She shook her head.

"My best friend. Her name was Kimberlynne, she loved water. Before she died she gave it to me to remember her by." She said.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, before placing a darker blue orb in her arm. "Blizzara." He told her. Gently taking the last orb in his hand, he held it above her arm.

"This is Cura. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, but if I die and you're left alone, you'll be able to heal yourself." He placed the green orb into her arm. Claire looked at the five orbs now in her arm that were still glowing. She looked at him, clearly distressed.

"Why haven't they stopped glowing yet?" She said worriedly. Zack chuckled.

"You need to calm down," He said, "The materia thinks you're in battle." Claire looked at her arm, before placing back at her side. She took a couple of deep breaths and the orbs began to fade. Just as they almost completely stopped, they glowed bright again and Claire freaked out.

"I don't want them anymore!" She sobbed, shaking her arm. Zack gently embraced her.

"Claire, are they hurting you?" He asked calmly. Claire shook her head lightly.

"Do you even know that they are there?" He asked in the same tone. Claire shook her head again.

"Do you think I would let anything bad happen to you?" Claire shook her head once more.

"Then you have nothing to worry about." Zack finished. The orbs in Claire's arm stopped glowing, and Claire significantly calmed. Claire backed away slowly.

_Smack._

Zack winced, her arm was getting better. He looked down at her. She was facing away from him, arms crossed over her chest.

"I know you enjoy the pattern of a turkey on my face, so I'll be sure to get it tattooed for you the next town we hit. But for now, can you tell me why you just slapped me across the face?" He said rubbing the mark Claire had left.

"You said I could." Claire said. Zack recalled when he had told her took take her mother's death out on him. A quiet "Oh yeah." came from his mouth.


	4. Chapter Three Clear

_Chapter 3- Clear_

Zack yawned. Night had fallen, and Zack had managed to light a fire for both Claire and him. Claire had curled up into a ball near but not too close to the fire, her azure eyes closed tightly. Zack smiled lightly. He knew after only a little while he closed his own eyes, Claire would come over and use him as a pillow. She had been ever since that night. He never did or said anything about it.

They were on their way to Healin. Claire had told him that's where the three Farron siblings were to go if any one of them was to go missing. Zack had agreed. Shinra wouldn't think of Healin; it wasn't a place that either one of them would most likely go to. Of course, Zack wanted to go home and just forget about this whole mess, but he owed it to Claire.

Claire had told him Cloud had changed his last name to Strife in order to protect Claire and him. She didn't know why exactly they needed to be protected, but she knew Shinra had always been looking for her. They had been the reason why she had found her father dead on the side of the road. She blamed herself for her father's death. Zack couldn't blame her for hating Shinra.

Claire had constant mood swings. At one moment, she would be telling him a story from her childhood. Another, she would be slapping him. The night usually would result in Claire getting angry at Zack for no reason and her pretending to go to sleep. After a while after Zack would lie down, she would crawl up next to him. Tonight was no different. Claire had slapped him after he lit the fire, saying that he almost burned her when she was far away from him and the fire. She had curled into a ball and closed her eyes.

Zack sighed and lay onto his back. Closing his eyes, he waited for Claire's head to rest on his stomach. After about twenty minutes, he felt the light weight of her head. Unconsciously, he idly ran his hand through Claire's soft pink tresses. Claire immediately recoiled, backing and turning away from him. Zack sat up, confused.

"Claire?" He called to her, but he received no answer. Zack had no idea what came over him, but he became distressed at Claire's actions. He knew he enjoyed that Claire cuddled close to him, but he didn't know he would react so pathetically. He crawled over to her, trying to envelop her into an embrace. She immediately recoiled once more and went back to her original spot near the fire. Zack was heartbroken.

Zack blinked. He wasn't heartbroken. He had only met Claire a couple of days ago. He kept repeating that in his head, but it didn't work.

Xx

The sun shone brightly above Zack and Claire as they walked to Healin. Ever since that night, Claire hadn't gone to him. She completely ignored him sometimes. The only contact they had was a slap to his face. Claire was exhausted. It was when Zack asked if she wanted to take a break when he received the slap.

It was know the third time Zack had caught Claire from toppling over. He sighed and watched as Claire's eyes snapped open again.

"Claire, you need a break. Stop over-working yourself." He said lightly, trying to help her sit down. Claire immediately shook her head and tried standing on her own. She succeeded, but she swayed a bit. Zack immediately took a step forward to help her.

"Claire, stop that. You're going to fall straight off that cliff, and my back still hurts from the last time." Zack said looking down at the cliff. Claire took a step backward, clearly angry.

"What do you know? You're just some stupid Shinra moron!" She yelled. Zack's expression was pure hurt.

"Claire," He started. Claire fumed and took another step backward as he took one forward.

"Get away from me." Claire seethed.

"Claire, stop this. This is stupid. You're going to end up hurting yourself." He said. Claire let out a growl. Fatigue overcame her, and she tried to steady herself. Zack took this opportunity to step forward. Claire noticed, and took another tiny step backward, her back now to the cliff.

"What are you trying to prove Claire? This is pointless!" Zack yelled, not knowing what to do. Claire fell backwards, falling headfirst off the cliff. Before even thinking about what he was doing, Zack jumped after her. He took hold of her waist, trying to make sure he would fall first, just like before. This cliff was much steeper than the other one, and Zack knew he would be one lucky man to make it out alive.

Claire's eyes fluttered open, and looked around frantic. Zack smiled weakly. Claire freaked clutching onto Zack's shirt. Zack watched as streaks of what seemed to be electricity run through Claire's body and spread to his. He felt as if he was slowing, but he knew the ground was approaching quickly. He felt himself hit the ground painfully as he blacked out.

Xx

Zack felt pain, and pretty much nothing else. He was happy he wasn't dead. He felt a blissful feeling on his head, and felt as it moved down to his shoulders and chest. Someone was curing him. He fought to open his eyes and see who it was. It couldn't have been Claire; she was too terrified to ever use the materia in her arm. But he heard her voice.

"Please, Zack. Wake up. I promise I won't slap you. Why isn't this stupid materia working?" She said, clearly aggravated. "At least stop wheezing like that."

_I'm wheezing? _Zack thought, and tried to focus on his breathing. It hurt really bad to breathe, and he could begin to hear the wheezing sounds that were apparently coming from him. Zack began to feel Claire's hand on his ribcage curing, the other, clasped onto his. He gave the hand holding his a slight squeeze and struggled to open his eyes again.

"Zack?" She said a little breathless. The cure was taking a lot out of her. As honored as Zack was, he didn't want her to strain herself for him. He managed to open his mako blue eyes. Claire looked at him hopefully. He gave her a weak smile, and tried to speak. All he could manage was a grunt. Claire sighed, and returned his weak smile.

"I'm sorry Zack, this is all my fault. You should've just let me die. I'll keep trying to cure you." Zack made a sound of protest, trying to tell her it wasn't her fault, that it was his own stupid fault for not thinking a rational way to save her. His head could barely process anything. He gave her hand another squeeze, hoping his message would come through to her. She smiled weakly at him again.

"It's not your fault." Zack managed to wheeze out. Claire looked at him surprised.

"This is entirely my fault! If I hadn't been so stupid and just token a break when you said to, we would never have been in this whole mess!" Claire cried, still trying to mend his ribcage. He shook his head, before managing to pull her close to him. Leaning her head against his chest, he told her:

"Claire, this isn't your fault." She tried to free herself, keeping her hand on his ribcage. With a sudden strength even Zack was surprised of, he sat up. His body protested with all its might. Afterwards, he managed to stand. He placed a hand on his shirtless chest. Claire must've removed it to cure him. Starting his own cure, he bent back down to Claire and placed his hand on anywhere he thought a break would be. Claire immediately protested, standing up herself.

"Stop that!" She yelled. Zack cocked his head to the side.

"Stop what?" He said softly. Claire clenched her fists.

"Stop caring about me! I've done nothing but be a bitch to you and you risk your life to save me and then start curing me when you're in worse shape!" Tears threatened to pool out of Claire's eyes. A moment of realization hit Zack.

"Is that what you've been trying to tell me?" He said lightly, taking a step toward her.

"Yes." She said, eyeing him.

"No. Not that bullshit you just gave me. You're hurting, aren't you Claire?" He said, embracing her. His body screamed in agony at all movements he made, but Claire pressed up against him was surprisingly soothing.

"No. I'm not hurting. I'm fine Zack. Now please let go of me." Claire said, her body tense.

"Yes you are. I'm sorry I haven't noticed it before." Zack said, holding her closer to him.

"What are you talking about? Zack, let me see your head." Her hands moved to his head, pumping a cure into it. Zack gently took her hands off his head and wrapped them around his waist, before return his own arms around hers.

"You're hurting because your father was killed suddenly and you saw him. You're hurting because Cloud went off to a dangerous job while you two were fighting." Zack started. Claire tensed even more in his arms.

"You don't know anything." She seethed.

" You're hurting because you're best friend died. You're hurting because you had to watch your mother be killed in front of you. You're hurting because your hometown was burned down." Zack continued.

"Shut it, will you?" She yelled.

" You're hurting because Shinra's been after you ever since you can remember. You're hurting because you believe your brother and sister are dead, even though they're not." He added.

"This is all your fault!" she cried, Zack clung to her tightly as she struggled to get away from him.

"I know it is. But I'm here now, and I'm gonna help you get through all that." He said softly, running a hand through her hair.

"I don't need you and I don't need anyone!" Her voice was shaking; Zack could tell she was on the verge of crying.

"I'm here for you, but I can't help you until you let me in, okay? Claire, when's the last time you cried?" Zack asked lightly. Claire burst into tears, wrapping her arms around Zack's neck and clung.

"It's all my fault!" She sobbed into Zack's chest. Zack gently rest his head on top of Claire's.

"No it's not baby girl. You couldn't help anything." He cooed soflty. After a while, Zack sat down, bringing Claire into his lap. He rested against a rock and continued running his hand through Claire's hair. When she stopped, Zack looked down at her and smiled.

"Feel better?" He said. He chuckled softly when he found her fast asleep on him.

Xx

It was a new day, but now the sun was setting and Zack was setting a fire. Claire sat near him yawning. With the fire lit, Zack fell backwards into a sitting position next to Claire.

"Today was long. You got pretty handy with that materia though." Zack said, looking over at Claire. She smiled lightly at him.

"Yeah, only because you kept getting your ass handed to you." She giggled. Zack tickled her.

"Only because I had to save_ your_ ass." He said over Claire's hysterics.

"I can't breathe!" She cried, laughing. Zack only chuckled before stopping. Claire panted. Yawning, Zack fell backwards.

"I'm going to sleep." Zack said, staring up at the now dark starlit sky. He closed his eyes. After a while he felt the familiar feeling of Claire's head, but this time it rested on his chest. Her arms wrapped around his stomach as she nestled close to him. Zack smiled and didn't dare move.

Xx

They were now at Healin, as Claire dragged him into a small inn. Claire looked around, distress written all over her face. The old woman at the desk laughed heartily.

"Looking for a blonde haired boy and a pink haired girl?" She said. Claire nodded cautiously. The woman handed her and envelope. Hesitantly, she walked over and retrieved the envelope, muttering a "thank you." Claire opened the envelope and scanned the letter. Zack looked over her shoulder and read the letter.

_Claire -_

_I have no idea where you and Zack are, but Serah and I can't stay here anymore. Shinra is on our heels. You can trust this old woman. Look carefully. You'll remember her. I know Zack can take care of you. Which is why we've gone to Gongaga. Shinra has left there, giving up on thinking/hoping Zack would return to his hometown. I left you some money. Eat something, will you? You're already just skin and bones._

_ -Cloud_

The distress left Claire's face, as she looked up to Zack and smiled.

"They're alive." She breathed. Zack chuckled.

"I told you they were." He said. Claire looked over to the old woman at the desk, who was smiling brightly. Claire's brow furrowed as she tried to remember who this woman was.

"Grandma?" She asked and the woman chuckled, nodding. Claire's face lit up and she ran and hugged the woman.

"I'm sorry I didn't notice you!" She cried, as the woman only laughed more.

"Oh relax, I haven't seen you in ages, dear. Long enough for you not to even remember." She said lightly.

Xx

Zack sighed, laying on the couch in the inn room. Claire's grandmother had been very kind in giving them both a room free of charge, but only one bed? What kind of grandmother was this?

Zack had graciously volunteered to sleep on the couch. He looked over to Claire. She was sprawled out onto the bed, her hair frayed everywhere. The light from the television she had requested to be on while she slept highlighted her face. She was tightly clutching a pillow, her eyes shut and her breathing even. Zack began to wonder if she really was asleep.

_My replacement can be as simple as a pillow?_ He thought, a little miffed. He wanted to be the only thing that could lull her to sleep. He exhaled, before closing his eyes. He inwardly admitted since after Claire had been cuddling him, he couldn't sleep without knowing where she was. This was about the fourteenth time he had looked over at Claire's sleeping form to make sure she was still there. He tried listening to the television that was playing childish cartoons.

His eyes snapped open when he heard rustling in the direction of Claire. Her hair was a frantic mess, her eyes nervous. She took step towards Zack, as she placed a blanket on him.

"You looked cold." She said, going back to the bed. Zack muttered a "thanks" and watched Claire snuggle back into her previous position. Zack didn't feel cold, as his mind went through all different scenarios to figure out why he looked it. His eyes closed once more, trying desperately to fall asleep.

When he heard rustling from Claire again, his eyes snapped open once more. Claire froze. She was now sitting up, pillow in hand. She still had the nervous look on her face. Determination mixed with it, as she stood up from the bed and cautiously took a few steps towards Zack. He blinked a couple times. She gently placed the pillow on Zack's chest, and she began to climb on top of him. As she began to lie down, Zack smiled and sat up. He picked her up along with the pillow and the blanket and began to walk back towards the bed. Claire looked devastated. He gently placed her down, putting the pillow behind her head and the blanket over her. He walked over to the other side of the bed before crawling in with her, and wrapping his arms around her tiny waist. Claire turned around to face him. She smiled happily and sighed contently into his chest.

Xx

It was getting dark, as Zack and Claire walked down a path trying to find a place to rest. Two recruits stopped in front of them. Zack immediately took out The Buster Sword. While walking towards them Genesis attacked him from behind. Zack was able to recover quickly, but the two recruits took him and pulled tightly on his hair. Genesis wrapped an arm around Claire and pulled her close. She immediately began to struggle and reach for Zack.

"Get off me!" Zack growled. Claire let out a whimper.

"Ow! My hair! Stop pulling!" He yelled trying to wrench free of the two recruits. Something about their strength was off.

"_When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end the goddess descends from the sky. Wings of light and dark spread afar She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting." _ Genesis quoted and held a dumb apple close to him. Zack looked over to a recruit, who held a lock of his hair.

"That's my hair!" He yelled at Genesis.

"You were a test subject in Hojo's new experiment. A modified version of Jenova's power runs through you." Genesis said, looking back to him.

"What? Seriously?" He said, panting a little. Genesis made a motion towards the recruit and the recruit began to eat the lock of Zack's hair. Zack looked at the recruit with awe.

"No way, he just ate my hair." He said. Claire couldn't help but giggle. Genesis wasn't happy with that and tightened his grip on her waist. She snapped her fingers. Anger coursed through as well as the electricity Zack saw run through Claire's body before when falling off the cliff. Instead of traveling through Genesis, it shocked Genesis, sending him flying.

"Don't touch me." She seethed. Zack, taking the opportunity sent both recruits flying and cut one down. He grabbed hold of Claire, happy to find she didn't shock him. Instead, she leaned forward into his chest. Genesis recovered and laughed darkly.

"Your cells will be my gift of the goddess. The degradation will cease." He said.

"You, are twisted." Zack said, trying to keep the flush off his face as Claire clung to his neck.

"The monster has been harvested, and can be discarded." Genesis said.

"You're the monster." Zack said.

"You speak as if you can cause the world's end." Claire said, glaring at him. Genesis only chuckled at her.

"I can and I will my dear." He said. Claire growled.

"Only Omega can take the life from this planet, and then brings us to a new one!" She yelled at him.

"Then I will just have to awaken Omega, won't I?" He said, laughing darkly.

"You can't just awaken Omega!" She growled, her eyes flashing a hue of red as a Fira spell attacked Genesis.

"I see why Shinra had such interest in you now. You're the Ultima weapon, aren't you? That's what the attack was then, Gravity. Hmm. Interesting. That would explain why it's not bothering your little friend." He laughed darkly before flying away. Zack grunted, before taking a look at the other recruit, which seemed to be choking on Zack's hair.

"I still can't believe he ate my hair." Zack said, eyeing him. Claire giggled.

"Better yours than mine." She smiled at him. As the recruit began to grow monster wings, Zack stepped in front of Claire.

"No, I'm thinking your hair would've been better." He said., Beginning to charge toward the enemy.

"Wait." Claire said, grabbing his wrist. The electricity spread from Claire into Zack lighting his body identical to hers.

"Use it well SOLDIER boy." She said, smiling. Zack beamed and gave her a thumbs up before charging towards the monster.

Xx

After their encounter with Genesis, Zack took care to make sure they weren't out in the open. He set a fire, as Claire lit it.

"Fira and Cura, I'm proud Claire." He said chuckling. She smiled lightly.

"I'm working on them." She said. He sat up, looking at Claire.

"Claire, what's the Ultima weapon?" Zack said, cocking his head to the side. She sighed.

"It's just what stupid non- Al Bhed call my family. Generation from generation my family has passed down the ability, gravity. It's what I used today. Normally, the first born gets it, so naturally, Cloud got it first. But he didn't want it, so he passed it onto me. I've been wondering how he did it for years. I can only pass it onto people momentarily, like I did to you." She said.

"Gravity, huh? My father used to tell me stories about it." Zack said, lying back down. He looked at his hands.

"It was a childhood dream of mine to be able to use it, just once. Thanks Claire, you made my dream come true." He smiled at her. Her face flushed and she looked away.

"Anytime." She muttered. Zack turned over onto his stomach, still facing her.

"Hey Claire, how come Cloud didn't want it?" She looked over at Zack.

"Even though Cloud was the first born, they still went after me. I think he gave it to me for protection. I don't really know why to be honest." She answered, crawling over to him. He eyed her as she placed her hands on his back.

"They say Gravity takes the effect out of Jenova cells. Makes them useless." She said, snapping her fingers and pushing them back into Zack's back. He let out a grunt of pain. Claire immediately retracted her hands. Zack turned around and took her hands in his, grunting a little.

"Please Claire, I don't want to be a monster." He said, pushing her hands under his shirt and onto his bare chest.

"You're not a monster." She said, biting her lip, trying to decide whether she should continue.

"You saw what my hair did to that guy." He said, looking at Claire. He let a pain filled cry as Claire pressed on. She lessened the pressure she put on him, before gaining determination and pressing back down onto him. He gritted his teeth and tried not to let out anymore sounds. The pain began to fade away and he grasped one of Claire's hands into his. She looked up at him and he smiled at her. She smiled back.

"It's not hurting you anymore?" She breathed and he nodded.

"Then it worked."


	5. Chapter Four Spiky

**X Hi! Sorry I haven't been updating, and I don't really have a valid reason why. Heh heh. Oopsies. But thank you for all the good reviews! It's good to know people actually like what I'm writing, **

**X I can't remember what Junon looks like anymore it's been so long, so just go with what I say, okay? Okay.**

_Chapter 4- Spiky_

Zack let out a yawn, as he strolled down a path to Gongaga. Claire followed next to him, a custom she had taken up after being attacked by Genesis. Over the past few weeks, Zack realized how fragile Claire really was. She would go from yelling and attacking him to cuddling up next to him. She would talk to him and then completely ignore him. It made Zack realize no one had really been there for Claire when she needed them. She was good at hiding things when she wanted them to be hidden. She had built walls around her so she could be strong. But as the closer they got to Gongaga, the more determined Zack was to bring those walls down crashing.

Of course, Claire had become much more pleasant to travel with ever since their second tumble off a cliff. If Zack tried to start a conversation she would actually take part in it. Zack was able to learn about her more, and a little about her heritage. She was an Al Bhed, like himself. Unlike him, she was able to speak Al Bhed fluently. She told a little about Cloud and Serah, although she mostly only had memories with Cloud.

"There was such an age gap when we were little," She had said, "There wasn't much she could do with us, she couldn't play tag or even hide and seek, so I spent most of my time with Cloud. But that doesn't mean I still don't love her as my sister, because she still is my sister." Zack nodded in agreement.

"I don't have any brothers or sisters; I had to play with the other kids in the village. Which comes to another thing, why Cloud for a name? It doesn't make sense when you and Serah have normal names." She laughed.

"You know those creepy shows on TV that the woman didn't know she was pregnant? My mom should've been on that show with Cloud. When he was born she was so high on pain medication she named him what came to mind first. Of course, the name does match his hair, don't you think?" She giggled in response. "Serah and I were planned, and our father was there to monitor."

"Jeez, how much pain medication was she on, and shouldn't they have waited for her, to you know, snap out it?" Zack said chuckling.

"Well, she was on a lot, because it took them a while to figure out what was wrong with her, and then they realized she was in labor." She walked ahead and stopped in front of Zack. Zack stopped as well, his head tilted to the side.

"I'm hungry." She said, as Zack chuckled.

"You mean I don't have to force feed you? Well this is a new one. Guess I can throw out the funnel." He said and ruffled her hair playfully. She returned the playful manner with a punch to his arm.

"You never force fed me with a funnel, you just forced it down my throat." She said, smiling.

"Exactly, do you how hard it is to get you to swallow? I bought a funnel just in case." He joked, as he received another playful punch in the arm. He reached into his pocket, pulling out an orange funnel.

"See?" He started, "Just in case." He started laughing at the look on Claire's face.

"You actually bought a funnel?" She said her mouth agape. Zack stopped laughing, but he had a wide grin on his face. He nodded enthusiastically.

"I thought you were kidding!" She giggled. She stopped quickly, a look of horror painted on her face. Zack's smile vanished. She grabbed at her shirt on her chest before sinking to her knees and letting out an ear-splitting scream. Zack immediately bent down to her shook her lightly.

"Claire? What's wrong? Say something." He said, worry coating his voice. She answered him with another scream. The funnel was long forgotten, and was now being pushed away by the wind. I flash of ice came and hit Zack square in the chest. He grunted and looked down at Claire. The materia in her arm was glowing viciously, as Claire screamed once more.

_She just attacked me. _He thought. As soon as that thought processed, a Cure was placed on him. The realization hit him fast. Her materia was malfunctioning due to whatever was causing her the pain. Zack sat there, hopeless. He couldn't figure out what was causing her to have so much pain. He hadn't let anything hit her. He had taken every single blow that had been aimed at her. Did he miss one? As Claire let out yet another scream, Zack fully embraced her, pulling her into his lap. She whimpered, holding back a scream as she panted.

"Claire, I need you to calm down. You're making your materia malfunction. I don't know what's wrong, but I'm pretty sure screaming won't help." He said softly, resting his head on top of hers. She calmed as best as she could, her panting becoming louder and more evident.

"Zack, I'm really tired." She managed out. Zack closed his eyes.

"Then sleep." He answered quietly.

"But Cloud, and Serah," She whispered, her eyelids drooping.

"They'll be fine, but if it makes you feel better, I'll carry you." He said lifting his head from hers to look at her face. She nodded weakly and wrapped her arms around Zack's neck. He went into a kneeling position, planning to pick Claire up bridal style. But Claire wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging to him. Zack blinked looking down at her, thinking to himself how suggestive this was. He immediately shook the thought before taking hold of her thighs and standing. Claire made herself comfortable. Sighing, she fell asleep, her head resting on his shoulder.

Xx

Claire was amazingly light, even for her tiny figure. It wasn't hard for Zack to carry her for long periods of time. He had walked all through the night. He had tried to rest and go to sleep, but he had been too worried about Claire. Now morning, Claire was finally beginning to stir. She let a quiet yawn before her azure eyes fluttered open. She looked around curiously.

"How long was I out for?" She asked quietly, clinging close to Zack when he made a motion to set her down. Realizing she wanted to stay, he tightens his grip again and starts walking again.

"Well let's see," Zack said, "You went to sleep in the afternoon yesterday, and slept through the night, so a while?" Zack answered, smiling at her.

"Did you take a break?" She said, looking at the surrounding s. They had changed slightly. More trees could be seen along the path.

"Tried to, but I couldn't. So I just kept walking." He replied, jumping over a fallen tree.

"Aren't you tired?" She asked, loosening her grip on his neck while he was jumping.

"Nah, I'm a SOLDIER boy, after all." He grinned at her. She smiled back at him sheepishly. Zack continued walking, and soon they reached a dock.

"Where are we?" Claire asked, looking around confused.

"Junon. They have a ship that'll take us close to Gongaga." He answered, walking onto the dock. Right before he entered the ship, a man asked for tickets.

"Claire, reach into my pocket and get them for me?" He asked. Claire blinked.

"W-what?" she said. Zack sighed before forcing Claire off of him and reaching into his pocket. Handing them to the man, he guided Claire up on to the ship.

"Jeez, Claire. You acted like I asked you to murder the man." He said.

"Think about what you asked me before you accuse me!" She whispered harshly before walking ahead of him and letting herself into their room. Following her, he said,

"What are you talking-" He started until he figured out what she meant. "Oh." He said quietly, a flush spreading on his cheeks.

"That's not what I meant!" He cried, trying to justify himself. "And besides, you were the one clinging to me!" Claire only huffed in response. Zack's eyes softened. Walking over to her an embracing her from behind, he said,

"Do you know what was hurting you? Is there anything I can do to help you?" He said softly. He knew this was a drastic mood change, but with Claire's mood swings, this wasn't much of a change. She shook her head slowly.

"I, I don't know. But I have a feeling it has something to do with what the Shinra scumbag injected me with." Zack's eyes widened. Immediately, he turned her around and took hold off her shoulders.

"Claire, they injected you with something?" H e asked, shaking her slightly. She nodded.

"I don't know what it was, but they were aiming for my arm and I moved so they hit me in the chest." She placed a hand on what Zack assumed to be the area she had received the injection.

"It was either mako or Jenova cells, Claire. You must be having a slowed reaction." He said, pulling her to the bed. "You should rest as much as you can. Hopefully it won't happen again, but for now, just stay in bed, okay?" He said, and pulled a blanket over the girl once she was comfortable in the bed. He placed a hand on her forehead. She had an amazingly high temperature.

"Claire, how long have you been feeling sick?" He asked. Claire gave him a look.

"What are you talking about? I haven't felt sick since that night I had the wound infection." She answered hastily.

"But you never kicked the fever, did you?" He said, going into the bathroom and wetting a cloth to place on her forehead. When he came back, Claire's hand was on her forehead, confused.

"But I haven't felt sick. Just cold." She said, closing her eyes slightly as Zack placed the cloth on her.

"Being cold is a symptom of a fever, Claire." He said, standing from his seat on the edge of the bed. She glared at him, as if saying, _Got that much, jackass._

"I'm going to see if they have something to lower your fever, don't move from that bed, understand?" He said, probably giving her the most serious look he ever made in his lifetime. She nodded, before taking hold of the remote to the television.

Xx

After finally retrieving the fever reducer for Claire, Zack walked back to their room. He almost missed Claire standing on a pier, looking out at the sea. He jogged over to her.

"Hey! Don't you ever listen to me?" He said, standing to her right. She looked over to him, smiling weakly.

"Sorry, I felt sick to my stomach, and ever since I was little ocean air has helped me." She said, taking a deep breath. "I'd thought I'd take advantage of us being on a ship." She turned back to the sea, closing her eyes.

"Well here, this should help with your fever and stomach." Zack said softly, placing a pill in Claire's right hand. She looked at it, before popping it into her mouth and swallowing. Zack handed her a water bottle chuckling.

"Guess you don't need this, but take it anyway." She obediently took the bottle from Zack's hand and unscrewing the cap, took a generous gulp from it.

"Thank you." She murmured. They sat in a comfortable silence for awhile.

"Zack," Claire said after a while. "Will you stay, when we find Cloud and Serah? I mean, we're all on the run from Shinra anyway." She turned to Zack. "You won't leave , right?" She finished. Zack blinked. He honestly hadn't thought what he would do when he finished helping Claire find Cloud and Serah. He had hoped just to go home, and wait until things died down. He did have little daydreams where Claire was with him in Gongaga, but he had quickly told himself that wasn't going to happen. But there Claire was, asking him to stay with her. Claire's eyelids drooped, as she began to fall forward. Zack immediately caught her.

"Hey Claire, why don't we get you to bed?" He said, helping her stand properly. She shook her head.

"Wait, can you answer me first?" She looked up at him, her hopeful azure eyes boring into his. He pulled her into an embrace.

"I'll follow you wherever you go. Baby girl, I won't let anything happen to you. I'll protect you with my life. I'll make sure we find Cloud and Serah, and I'll stop Shinra from following you. I know that may seem like I'm a stalker, or I'm making promises I can't keep, but I'm telling you the truth." He said, running his hand through her hair. She giggled cutely and wrapped her arms around his neck, before collapsing in his arms.

Xx

Over the 2 days they had been on the ship, Zack had managed to cure Claire of her fever. Now cured of most ailments, she became hype in random times of the day. She woke him both mornings by jumping onto his back.

"I didn't know you snored." She said, the first time. Zack blinked, confused. When he accused her of breaking his back, She merely giggled and bounced off to a pier. The second day she just smiled at him and walked off to the pier.

Now, both Claire and Zack were on the pier, watching as the land got closer. During their wait for the ship to stop, Zack thought of a plan to get back at Claire for jumping on him. She was leaning against a side of the boat, giggling and pointing out any interesting aquatic animal to Zack. When the water had become shallow he leaned over the railing, matching Claire.

"Hey, Claire. Can you swim?" He asked, making sure his little prank didn't go drastically wrong. She looked at him and tilted her head to the side.

"Yeah! Me, Cloud, and Kimber always brought Serah to a lake nearby to go swimming." She said enthusiastically. Zack's grin widened as he picked Claire up and heaved her overboard. She let out a yelp, then a giggle, and a splash was heard as she fell into the water below. When she surfaced, Zack grinned even wider, jumping in. When he surfaced, Claire splashed him in the face.

"Hey! That was mean!" She said, swimming into shallow water. Zack followed her and shrugged.

"You breaking my back was mean. Do you have your bag?" He asked, walking the rest of the way up to her.

"No, you have to go it. And yes you. Ha, your hair is still spiky! Cloud's deflates." She stuck out her tongue and giggled. Tongue back in her mouth, she began to wade to the shore, waves helping her.

"Wait." Zack said, pulling her back by her wrist and embracing her. The boat was still behind them. She looked up at Zack, her azure eyes curious. And then that's when Zack gave in.

He loved Claire. And there was nothing he could do about it. He had turned into one of her fan boys that Cloud would kill. But he didn't care.

He kissed her.

He knew he was digging his own grave. He lips were soft and warm against his, and even more inviting than he had imagined. The waves gently pushed against them both, and Zack had to hold Claire steady to keep her from falling over. One hand was wrapped around her waist, the other running through her hair. As he gently sucked on her bottom lip, he began to feel like he was flying.

Because Claire kissed back.


	6. Chapter Five Greater

**X MY COMPUTER SHOT SPARKS AT ME! I've been telling my Dad for a while we needed a new fan and a day later my computer was crashing. I tried restarting it. When it booted back up not only did it shoot sparks at me, it blew two fuses and made a lovely burn mark on the table it is placed on. Let's just say I didn't even go into my room for a couple days. **

**X So here's Chapter 5, heh, hopefully I can get back to my one-a-week update system. That I never had. ANYWAY, reviews are wonderful :]**

_Chapter 5- Greater_

As Zack pulled away from Claire, he smiled wide. She returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Cloud's gonna kill you." She sang, resting her head in the crook of his neck. A small giggle was heard from her. Zack let out a chuckle.

"So there's no way I could still be friends with Cloud and have you?" He asked, twirling her hair in his fingers. She looked up thoughtfully.

"You probably should've waited to ask Cloud before you kissed me." She said, giggling. Zack gently nuzzled her nose.

"I was afraid you'd say that." He murmured.

"You should, because Cloud can tell when I'm lying, so I can't cover your sorry ass." She said, stepping away from him. She gently took hold of his hand and guided him to shore.

"You know, kissing me in the ocean is kinda corny, don't you think?" She said when they walked onto the sand.

"I'm kind of a corny guy. Sorry." He chuckled. "To be honest, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing." Claire turned to face him.

"I like spur of the moment." She said, smiling.

Xx

Claire's new custom was to hold Zack's hand as they walked. Zack didn't mind at all, in fact, he enjoyed it. He was able to tell what Claire was thinking. If she jumped slightly, she was obviously scared. If she squeezed his hand, she wanted to talk but didn't know what to say. When she fidgeted, she wanted him to teach her a new battle technique. And when her hold loosened, she either wanted him to carry her or to take a break. Right now, she hold on his hand was normal, meaning she was content.

"Gongaga's right up ahead. I want you to stay close anyway, just in case. Okay?" Zack said, looking down at her. She looked up and nodded. They stayed silent until they finally walked into Gongaga. Claire looked around, and then looking up at Zack.

"Where do you live?" She asked quietly. He pointed over in the direction of his home. Taking her hand in his once more, he guided her over to his house; he quietly walked to the side, and helped Claire climb up the side of the house.

"Why are we scaling your house?" She whispered.

"Just being careful." He whispered back, beginning to climb himself. Making sure Claire had a good hold of the house, he opened the bathroom window, and he climbed in. Once in, he grasped Claire's hand, in an attempt to pull her up. She freaked, and began to frail her arms. Zack still managed to pull her up, but she fell on top of him on the bathroom floor.

"Claire, next time you freak out on me, make sure you're not going to kill yourself in the process." Zack said sitting up. Claire got off of Zack.

"Sorry," She murmured. "It's just I was hanging off the side off a building by one hand." Zack sighed. Carefully, he opened the bathroom door and looked both down the hall. He looked back to Claire, and she nodded. He checked all of the rooms in the hallway, before gently taking Claire's hand and leading her to the staircase. He let go and went down himself.

"Zack?" An older man's voice said. Zack immediately turned around. An older man, with Zack's black hair, holding a shotgun was behind him.

"Dad?" He asked, stepping forward to him. The man enveloped Zack in a brief hug before stepping back and smiling.

"Your mother and I were wondering when you would come home. Of course your mother was hoping a girl tagged along with you, but you know her."

"Is that you Zack?" A brown haired woman came into the doorway. She smiled and hugged him. Oh thank goodness, when we heard that bump upstairs, we thought we were being robbed." Zack laughed. Looking up at the stairs, he called,

"It's alright Claire, you can come down." His mother looked at him curiously. Claire peeked her head out before shyly coming down the stairs. His mother gasped delightedly.

"Isn't she precious!" She exclaimed, walking over to Claire, and placing her hands on her shoulders. Claire didn't recoil, but she tensed and avoided eye contact. She smiled nervously. Zack laughed awkwardly.

"Mom, Dad, this is my friend Cloud's sister, Claire. We're looking for Cloud and her sister, Serah. Have you seen a pink haired girl and a Blonde hair boy?" His mother looked disappointed.

"You mean you aren't going to marry this wonderful creature?" His mother said. Zack's jaw dropped.

"Mom!" He exclaimed. Claire's face was a beat red. She bit her lip nervously.

"Have you seen them, Miss?" Claire asked quietly. Zack's mother looked back at her. She shook her head sympathetically.

"I haven't dear, but I don't leave the house often, have you, dear?" She looked over to Zack's father. He nodded in response.

"The boy's hair looks like a chocobo, right?" Claire nodded quickly. "They've been around; the boy didn't look too good. I thought he was dead at first, but he's breathing. The girl's doing well, she dragging him around." Claire's eyes widened as she looked at Zack.

"Where are they Dad?" Zack asked, looking at his father.

"Farther down the path, closer to the mountains." He answered Claire made an attempt to go, but Zack grabbed her by the waist.

"No, you're going to stay here and rest, your fever is coming back." He said, guiding her to the couch in the living room.

"But-"She started.

"No buts. Now rest." He said pulling a blanket from the top of the couch and draping it over her. "I'll get them, I promise." He caressed her cheek and stood. When he turned, he saw both his mother and father smirking. Zack looked away and flushed.

"I'll be back; can you take care of Claire for me?" He said walking by them towards the front door.

"Of course." He mother said, smiling.

Xx

Zack had to look around for a while; the sun was beginning to set. He couldn't disappoint Claire. So when he saw a flash of pink he bolted towards it. When he got to a large rock, a small girl came out in front of it, holding a Shinra gun. She was clearly nervous, as she was shaking. She realized who Zack was after a moment. Placing the gun down, she started crying.

"Where's Claire?" She asked stepping back. Zack blinked.

"She's resting, she has a fever, but other than that she's okay." He said, kneeling down to Serah's level. "Is Cloud all right?" Serah shook her head and pointed behind the rock. Zack walked over quietly. Cloud was placed behind the rock, his eyes open but he wasn't moving. Just like his father, Zack had to make sure Cloud was even breathing. Cloud looked up to him.

"Claire." He said, his head tilting.

"Claire is all right." Zack said. Cloud nodded, his eyes closing.

"He's sleeping now. He has gotten better, ever since we got away from that place, he's been like this." Serah said, sniffling. "He got us onto the boat, and then he started acting like he was dead. I had to drag him places. At the beginning, he was able to move around himself sometimes, that's how he wrote the letter to Claire. But it got worse, and soon he couldn't do anything. A while ago, he started moving a little again. And now he can ask one-worded questions."

Zack smiled at Serah. He slung Cloud over his shoulder. "Well, he's getting better again, right?" He said. Serah nodded weakly.

"Cloud's heavy. If you've been carrying him you've got some muscle." He chuckled as he led the way back to his house. Serah stopped in front of him.

"I got help most of the time. Other times I had to wait for someone to help me. Where are we going?" she said. Zack stopped.

"Back to my house, Claire's there and waiting." He answered. Serah nodded lightly.

"Serah." Cloud said quietly. Serah looked up. "Trust." He finished. Serah understood and nodded more confidently. Zack smiled.

"Let's go."

Xx

Zack opened the door to his house and stepped in. His mother looked out from the kitchen and smiled. Zack smiled back before going into the living room. Claire looked up from the television. She immediately got up even when Zack gave her a look. He placed a sleeping Cloud down of the couch as Serah ran and embraced Claire.

"Claire!" She cried, sobbing into Claire's shoulder. Claire hugged her back, a look of relief consuming her face.

"Are you alright Serah?" She said quietly pulling away from her to look at her face. Serah nodded.

"They only injected Cloud with stuff. They just kept me to the side." She answered. Claire's head snapped up to Zack, who immediately walked over to Serah.

"That's what you meant by 'that place'? Serah, the guys who injected Cloud with something, what did they look like?" He said his eyebrows furrowed.

"Hojo." Cloud said behind Zack. Zack spun around to face him. "Hojo?" He repeated. Cloud nodded. He reached out. "Claire." He said. Claire walked over to him and took hold of his outstretched hand. He slowly took his hand and touched her cheek, before going back down and taking hold of her hand once more. Very slowly and carefully, Cloud attempted to sit up. With the help of Claire, he managed to slump over the arm of the couch. He winced.

"I was worried about you." He said quietly. Both Zack and Serah were surprised. Claire just smiled lightly and nodded.

"I spent a long time thinking you two were dead. Just ask Zack." She smiled at Zack before going back to Cloud. "I think I win." She added. Cloud chuckled.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." He said embracing her. She wrapped her arms around his neck gently.

"Trust me, after this whole experience, no one is allowed to die anymore." She said. Cloud's head slumped onto her shoulder. She looked at him to find him asleep. She smiled softly before laying him down on the couch.

Xx

Zack sighed as he flipped through the television channels. Cloud had woken up but went back to sleep, and it was now dark outside. He was snoring slightly and would occasionally shift in his sleep. He seemed to be able to control his body from the waist up.

"Zack?" Zack's head turned to face Claire in the doorway. He smiled.

"What's up?" He said quietly. She looked at the ground.

"Can I, take a shower? And wash my clothes?" She whispered. Zack chuckled and nodded.

"I'm assuming you want some of my old clothes to sleep in, huh?" He said standing. He had already changed and bathed himself and Cloud. He didn't really have to help Cloud. Cloud surprisingly was able bathe and change himself; he just needed some help turning the water on.

"I would like that," She started. She bit her lip. Zack tilted his head to the side.

"What? They don't smell of my beastly odor; they're clean." He said. Claire shook her head.

"No it's not that, it's just," She started and looked at Serah who was sitting on the couch next to Cloud.

"Serah first?" He guessed. Serah looked up at the sound of her name and Claire nodded. Zack turned to her.

"Come on up Serah, let's get you and your sister cleaned up." He said, leading them both up to his room. Going through his dresser, he pulled out some shirts and shorts that no longer fit him. He gave the smaller ones to Serah and showed her the bathroom. Turning to Claire, he smiled.

"There's a bathroom downstairs you can use." He said guiding Claire to the other bathroom. Walking back to the living room, he sighed and plopped himself onto the couch opposite of Cloud. Cloud's eyes were now open, as he turned to Zack when he came in.

"Thank you for taking us in, and watching Claire for me." Cloud said. Zack smiled.

"No problem, although watching Claire was quite an adventure." He chuckled, "I'm surprised I don't have a Turkey imprint on my face still." Cloud sighed.

"I'm sorry. She gets very defensive after someone dies. I don't think actually witnessing my mother's death was a good thing for her mental health." He said.

"I don't think it's good for anyone's health." Zack commented. Cloud nodded in agreement. Zack thought, and he decided this was probably the best opportunity to tell Cloud about him and Claire. It probably wasn't, but he had tell him someday.

"Uh Cloud, I have to tell you something." He said dumbly.

"You made a move on my sister." Cloud said chuckling. Zack's draw dropped for the second time that night.

"Did she tell you?" he asked, trying to remember a time Claire and he were alone. Cloud shook his head.

"She's my sister. I can tell these things. Claire stops whacking you and Serah will giggle around you a lot. Of course, that's when they like it. When they don't, they usually both slap you across the face like a normal girl." He answered.

"Should I ask how you know this?" Zack half asked. Cloud laughed.

"Trust me, I learned the hard way. I walked into them by accident and they've done the same to me." Zack raised his eyebrow. He was about to say something cocky, until a moment of realization dawned on him. He shot up from his seat.

"Wait, does this mean I can date Claire? You're not going to kill me?" He asked, trying to keep quiet so his mother wouldn't hear him and come squealing into the room. Cloud nodded.

"I trust you. You've kept her safe for a while, you're only 2 years older than her, and you're not some random scum off the street. Of course, if you hurt her, in any way, I will personally rip your heart out off your chest with my bare hands." Cloud said. Zack laughed out of pure joy. He hugged Cloud briefly.

"You can trust me. I will pamper, and baby, and spoil her! I won't let anyone lay a finger on her, well I already do that, but still!" There was more to Zack's babbling, but Claire walked into the room and that shut him up momentarily.

"Claire!" He cried picking her up and twirling her. Her hair was damp and she was wearing his favorite shirt he had given her. She had to grasp the shorts he had given her to keep them up. He couldn't answer him because his mouth on hers silenced her. She closed her eyes and kissed back, her arms wrapping around his neck. It was short and sweet. Claire giggled.

"Hello to you too." She said.

Xx

After all had been fed, bathed, and clothed properly, Serah had a problem sleeping upstairs and away from Claire and Cloud. Zack had offered Serah the guest room and Claire his room. Serah had accepted but like Claire, she had a problem saying what she wanted. The conversation had resulted in Cloud and Serah sharing a couch, while Zack and Claire shared the other.

Zack yawned quietly, occasionally checking on Claire. He thought having her right next to him would be enough to let him fall asleep. The fact he was still awake proved him wrong. He wasn't the only one awake, either. He would notice after a couple minutes, Claire would scoot closer to him. After she scooted closer to him for the 6th time, he wrapped his arms around her. He knew Cloud wouldn't be exactly happy with him, but it was apparent that both of them couldn't sleep. Claire giggled and snuggled into his chest.


	7. Chapter Six Embrace Your Dreams

**X The original title was Give Me A Sign; I felt I had to change it. I'm sorry! Nothing else has changed! I promise!**

**X I'm so hapeh. :D**

**X anyways, here's chapter 6. My spacebar is acting funky so I apologize in advance. I check multiple times, but I can still miss some. Sorry! :[ anyways, Reviews are wonderful!**

_Chapter 6- Embrace Your Dreams_

Zack yawned as he opened his eyes. He looked down to the weight on his chest which turned out to be Claire's head. She was still fast asleep, an occasional scrunching of her face signaling she was close to waking up. He smiled lightly and picked up the remote to the television which was placed on his lap. His back disagreed with him for sleeping on the couch in such a weird position as he flipped through the channels. Claire shifted in her sleep causing Zack to look down at her. Her large azure eyes fluttered open and then closed back again tightly.

"Too early." She mumbled and cuddled closer to Zack. He chuckled.

"I see you've never been woken up at 2 in the morning for a mission." She shook her head lightly in response. She opened her eyes again and looked Zack directly in the eyes. Her gaze slowly lowered down his face and landed on the x-shaped scar. Zack watched a small hand come up slowly to his face to trace the scar. He felt the warm sensation of a cure as both of them never lost eye contact. He gently took hold of her small wrist and stopped her.

"It's not that I don't appreciate it, but I'd like to keep that scar." He smiled at her. She looked back at the scar. Her eyes drooped and her head fell forward back onto his chest. Zack looked down at her concerned, before discovering she had fallen back asleep. He chuckled softly. Sighing, he let his head fall back onto the couch. His head rolled back to look down at Claire.

"What am I going to do with you?" He asked to himself, before gently starting to get up. Once he was standing, he picked Claire up bridal style. He walked up the stairs and into his old bedroom. He placed Claire down on his bed and went to his desk and started rummaging through the drawers of a wooden desk next to the bed.

"What are you looking for?" Claire's small voice rang throughout the room. Zack looked over to her surprised.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" He asked. His response was a shake of the head. She sat up and took in her surroundings.

"You never answered my question." She said when her eyes landed on a holster leaned up against a dresser. She tilted her head to a side curiously.

"Hmm? Oh! I'm looking for a lease to a house. My mom got it well, um, my mom got it." He laughed nervously. She looked back at him and smiled.

"So did you bring me up here to help you?" She said slowly rising from the bed and walking over to the holster. Zack had gone back to looking and paused when she asked that.

"I really don't know why I brought you up here, baby girl. I guess it's just a habit now" He said walking over to her. Smiling he picked up the holster and held it out towards Claire.

"Blazefire Saber. Blaze Edge for short." He said. Claire looked at it before hesitantly reaching out and taking hold of the holster. She took the weapon out its holster slowly and carefully, and set the holster down on the bed. She switched it from gun mode to blade mode a couple times.

"Looks like you already got a good hold." Zack chuckled. She looked up and smiled lightly.

"My Father had one, and defended his life until he died with it. When any three of us could prove we mature enough to handle one, he said he would teach us how to use it. Cloud got to learn a good two years before I could. I would jealously watch. So when I finally got to learn I already knew everything, I just had to practice. I had the basics down in a week. I was a terrible shot." She paused to let a small laugh. "I accidently shot Cloud in the ass when I was aiming for a tree about twenty good feet away from him." she mumbled and looked down to her feet. Zack chuckled.

"How did Cloud take it?" He asked slowly, tilting his head to the side.

"A lot better than my mother did. No one was allowed to use it anymore. Not even my father. Of course he never listened. I apologized for three years, and Cloud would just laugh and say He almost shot himself in the foot aiming straight ahead of him."

"That's a good thing to know considering he now carries a semi auto machine gun." Zack joked. Claire smiled.

"After Cloud's 'injury' healed, the Shinra army came to just outside of Nibelheim. My father was headed home from clearing things out with Shinra. They hadn't been able to tell the army to stop yet. He was killed and left on the side of the road, holding his gunblade in one hand, roses and a card for my mother in the other." Tears fell from Claire's face as she let a muffled cry. Zack immediately took her into his arms. He slowly ran a hand through her hair. He felt Claire try to take deep breaths, obviously trying to stop herself from crying.

"No baby girl, don't do that. If you need to cry, cry. I'm here for you. Claire looked up at Zack through tear-filled eyes, her hand clutching the material of his shirt. She buried her face back into his chest and let a loud sob and clutched his shirt tighter. Zack gently placed small, tender kisses at the top of her head.

"I went with Kimberlynne, to go pick flowers. The whole goddamn army was still there!" She cried out. "They took me and Kimber back to Midgar. They killed my father because that bastard's son had a crush on me long ago! He wanted to force me to marry him! The kid wasn't even interested in me anymore!" Claire continued sobbing.

_How could he lose interest in you?_ Zack wanted to say, but he decided it wouldn't help his cause. Instead, he rested his cheek on top of her head. Claire's sobs soon turned to cries, then to sniffles and eventually hiccups. Claire was beginning to fall limp in his arms.

"Hey now, you can't fall asleep on me again, there's a reason Angeal called me 'The puppy'"

"Hmm, I want a puppy. Or maybe a kitten." Claire mumbled half asleep. Zack chuckled and attempted to pick Claire up. Before he could put an arm underneath her legs, Claire lifted them and wrapped them around his waist. She rested her head in the crook of his neck. Zack shook his head smiling as he took hold of her thighs.

"What is with you and falling asleep in the least convenient times?"

"Mm, I want a kitten, I already have a puppy." She mumbled. Zack looked down at her, discovering she had fallen asleep. Zack brought her back downstairs and into the living room assuming Serah would like to see both her siblings there when she awoke. He gently detached her limbs from him and pulled a blanket over her small form. He jumped when he noticed Claire's azure eyes were once again open.

"Damn Claire, don't do that." He mumbled stroking her cheek. She gave a confused look, but said nothing. Instead she reached out to the Blaze Edge.

"Would you like to have that?" He asked, lifting her legs and sitting on the couch. She looked at him.

"Really? She asked. Zack nodded in response.

"I never use it. I have my sword." Claire beamed and tackled him onto his back. "Thank you." She mumbled, "I'm a better shot now, I promise." Zack chuckled.

"You may know how to use it, but you have no battle experience, so I'll teach you sometime this week, kay?" He said ruffling her hair. She nodded. He smiled and gently pushed her down back onto the couch.

"I'll be right back, okay?" He said standing. Claire nodded and reached out for the remote. Going back up into his room and starting rummaging through drawers once more. He let out a small yelp when he noticed a small hand reaching through his arm and taking hold of a lease. He immediately turned and came face to face with Claire.

"Damn it Claire! Do you ever stay put?" He sighed and gently took the lease Claire was holding out to him. She was looking down at the ground, clearly hurt. When she began to sniffle Zack's composure completely crumbled. Immediately pulling her into an embrace he said,

"Oh no, Claire, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. You just scared me, I'm sorry." He started to mumble, and then proceeded to repeatedly mumble 'I'm sorry' She slowly wrapped her hands around his neck and her legs around his waist. Taking the hint he took hold of her thighs.

"I love you." She mumbled drowsily.

"I love you more." He answered kissing her forehead. She mumbled something incoherently, falling asleep once more.

"Come on, you. Let's go furniture shopping.

Xx

A small house, not any different from the rest of the buildings in Gongaga stood before Zack. He inhaled deeply and collapsed on to the ground, staring up at the sky.

"Hey, I finished the kitchen." Claire said sitting next to Zack on the ground. He smiled at her.

"I finished the bulky furniture. How's Serah in the living room?" He asked, pulling Claire down to rest with him.

"Good, she moved on into the dining room." She answered snuggling closer to him.

"Good. And how's Cloud?" He asked, running a hand through her hair.

"Sleeping like a log on the couch." Claire responded. Zack nodded.

"Well then, Welcome home baby girl."

Xx

Zack yawned before opening his eyes and his room if his new house. He had aged and looked about a year older. He smiled down at Claire and gently caressed her face. They had bought a bed for her, but she has yet to sleep a night in it. Slowly and quietly getting up, he headed for the bathroom. Once done properly bathing, he dressed himself and headed downstairs. Claire was already out of bed. The smell of pancakes and bacon wafted around the house as he headed downstairs. Cloud and Serah were at the kitchen table as Claire put plates in front of them. As Zack sat down he too was greeted with a plate in front of him. He smiled his thanks a quickly consumed the food. Once all had finished, he pulled Claire outside.

"Where are we going?" She asked. Zack winked at her.

"You'll see." He said. He pulled her by a clear lake with the sun brightly reflecting off of it. The trees around it were completely covered in green leaves and provided wonderful shade. Claire looked around excitedly.

"Why did you never show me this?" She asked, taking a couple steps forward. Zack chuckled.

"I want this place to be memorable for the both of us." He answered. Claire turned and looked at him confused. Before she could say anything, Zack pulled out a black velvet box and got down on one knee. Her eyes widened.

"Claire Farron, will you make this big oaf the happiest man in the universe and marry me?" He opened the box revealing a beautiful diamond ring. Claire squealed and jumped before tackling Zack to the ground.

"Of course I would marry you!" She cried and sat up. Zack sat up as well letting out an overjoyed laugh. He took the ring and placed it on Claire's small finger. Smiling, he pulled her into a passionate kiss.

Xx

Serah giggled as she ran ahead of Zack and Claire. She turned and giggled some more.

"I can't believe you two are getting married next month! I'm so happy for you!" She said turning back around and walking. "I can't wait until I get married."

"Yes you can." Claire said hastily. Serah only giggled.

"Claire. Serah. Don't move." Zack said, pulling them to the side of the path. Helicopters were passing above. Claire's eyes widened.

"Cloud!" She whispered. Zack wasn't paying attention. A giant shuriken whizzed by them and after a helicopter. A girl, about Claire's age ran by them, waving and smiling at Claire.

"Kimber?" Claire questioned, walking forward. Zack immediately stopped her.

"After me." He said, pulling out the Buster Sword. She nodded and carefully walked toward the blonde girl. She was joined by a dark haired man in a clearing. The giant shuriken whizzed up into the air and cleanly cut the propellers off the helicopter. The dark haired man disappeared as the helicopter crashed and reappeared in front of it and stepped into the cockpit. The girl turned around and smiled. Her hair was in a corkscrew. She had bright purple eyes and wore a black and red kimono-style lolita. Her legs were covered in white knee-high stockings, and black Mary Janes.

"Hiya Claire! Sorry, I would've said hi before but that chopper there needed to go down." She giggled. Claire ran out to her and hugged her tightly.

"I thought you were dead!" Claire cried, tears forming in her eyes. Kimberlynne giggled.

"I thought so too! But ya know Turkey? Well here was around and saved my ass. But I had some things to do in Spira, and then in Pulse. Oh by the way, NOCTIS! STOP TORTURING THOSE PILOTS AND GET YOUR PRINCEY ASS OVER HERE!" She said. The dark-haired man reappeared next to Kimberlynne.

"I thought we went over the fact I was a prince 500 years ago and no longer need said title." The man now known as Noctis said.

"Yeah well just because you were a rock for 500 years doesn't mean you're not still princey. If that worked I would've petrified myself a long time ago." Kimberlynne stuck out her tongue.

"I was in crystal status, not petrified." Noctis argued back.

"So this is?" Claire interjected. Kimberlynne looked over to her and giggled.

"Sorry Claire. This is Noctis. I found him in Tenebrae on Pulse. We're assuming he was in crystal status for about 500 years. He's a lot like Cloud without the angsty emoness. Noctis, this is my cousin and best friend, Claire." She said. Noctis nodded at Claire, before looking at Zack.

" Kimber, this is my fiancé, Zack." Claire said, smiling up at Zack. He smiled back and waved at Kimberlynne.

"Hey, I remember you, you were in SOLDIER!" She said, smiling. Zack looked at her confused, before his face lit up.

"Oh yeah! You're that girl who was always around Genesis! But you left before he did." He said. Kimberlynne smiled and nodded.

"Yup, they thought I was dead and when they found out I was still alive they've been trying to kill me. I've been on the run ever since. But having Princey here does make it handier."

"Why do they want you dead?" Serah said from behind Claire. Kimberlynne waved.

"I was an experiment." She smiled weakly."And a runaway one at that." Claire added.

"So do you guys need a place to stay? I mean as long as those guys in the chopper don't report anything you're safe here." Zack asked, looking at Claire for approval. Claire nodded eagerly.

"They won't be a problem." Noctis said bluntly. Kimberlynne and Claire squealed and hugged.

Xx

Zack stood at the altar, clearly nervous. He was cleaned up nicely in a black tux. People were already descending down the aisle. Zack simply wanted them to run down the aisle and make way for his bride. And just when he was about to scream, the music changed. And there Claire stood. Her hair was done up into a messy bun, a tiara and veil accompanying it. Her makeup was done naturally but beautifully, her white gown flowing behind her. She was being handed over by Cloud who was smiling as they both descended. She smiled at Zack, and he couldn't help but beam. When she reached him, he said,

"You're beyond beautiful baby girl." He whispered and took her hand. They said their vows and exchanged rings.

"You may now kiss the bride." Zack instantly scooped Claire up in her arms and kissed her with all the passion and love he could muster.

Xx

Another year has passed and Zack walked out of the bathroom of his house in a black suit. He smiled at Claire who was doing her make up in a mirror in their room. Once she was done, she checked herself over, and then rested her hands on her round belly. Zack embraced her from behind and pecked her on the cheek.

"You make a beautiful maid of honor baby girl." He said. She scoffed.

"I'm way too fat." She said, rubbing her belly. Zack's hand moved to her stomach as well.

"No, you're pregnant. And the doctor said you should be at least 5 centimeters larger around the waist."

"Hey, he said the kid was healthy. I'm doing a good job." She said turning around and placing her hands on his chest.

"I never said you weren't. Just promise me you'll eat a lot at Kimber and Noct's wedding. It's a buffet. You're pregnant. Use the excuse!" He chuckled.

Xx

"Push!" Claire let out another ear-splitting scream that rang throughout the hospital.

"I swear Zackary Fair if I make it out alive I'm going to kill you!" She panted. Zack chuckled.

"Last push honey." Zack smiled at Claire and gave the hand he was holding a gentle squeeze.

"Did you hear that baby girl? One last push." Claire screamed out as cries filled the room. Claire let out and exasperated sigh as she look at her new baby.

"Congratulations, It's a boy!" The nurse cried handing the small infant to Claire. Claire let out a pleased sigh and held his little hand.

"Hello Angeal." She said smiling. She looked at Zack who smiled back. Carefully, he took his newborn son from his wife and cradled him in his arms.

Xx

Angeal now looked to be the age of 2. He was the mirror-image of Zack, but his behavior was more like Claire's. He wandered throughout the meadow he and his parents had been picnicking in. Noctis and Kimberlynne had left to go back to Spira just yesterday. Cloud and Serah were at the house now, Cloud getting ready for work and Serah working on homework.

"Hey, I'm heading back to the house for a second. Do you need anything?" Zack said getting up. Claire shook her head.

"No, hurry back." She said. Zack nodded. He broke into a jog. Reaching the house, he opened the door and revealed a tied up Serah sitting on the floor.

"Serah!" He cried and untied her.

"They took Cloud!" She cried. Zack helped her up and grabbed Claire's old messenger bag. It had filled with things she might need on the run.

"Let's go." Zack said and broke into a run for Claire. Upon reaching the meadow Zack could see Claire tickling Angeal in her arms, standing. Zack Immediately grabbed the arm that wasn't holding Angeal and kept running.

"What's wrong?" She asked, noticing Zack had her messenger bag.

"They have Cloud." He hastily answered.

Cloud wasn't hard to find. They had kept him in an open area. However, they were already injecting him with something as he violently thrashed. A good ten needles stuck him at the same time. He screamed out in agony. Zack cut down all of the recruits. He nudged Cloud.

"Hey, Cloud?" He said., He took his hand into his own and checked for a pulse. His eyes were open but he wasn't moving.

"Ah, they fucked with your mako addiction. Great."

"Is he going to be okay?" Claire asked, putting her messenger bag around her and picking Angeal up.

"Think so. But he's probably not going to be much help." Zack said picking him up.

Xx

How's going to Midgar going to help us?" Serah asked, sitting alongside Claire in the truck of an old man.

"They have a ship to Cocoon. I know it's not the greatest place, but we're not wanted there." Zack answered, taking a sleeping Angeal from Claire. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh air. The sounds of guns were heard and Zack let out a hiss of pain. He looked down to his stomach and saw red staining his shirt. He bit back the pain and took hold of Cloud.

"Pops, park us over by the rocks." He said and as soon as the truck stopped he helped Claire, Angeal, Serah, and Cloud out of the truck. It came to a realization. This wasn't going to stop. They would be running forever. As he looked at Claire and Angeal hugging each other sweetly, he accepted his fate. Taking some of his own blood, he started to plaster it over the left side of Claire's face

"Zack, what are you doing?" Claire asked, trying to stop him from spreading more blood on her. She moved her hand to his bullet wound. He stopped her.

"Do this for me Baby girl." He said simply. He repeated the process with Angeal. He gently pushed Claire to the ground and placed Angeal next to her.

"Angeal, I need you to go to sleep again, okay?" He said and Angeal nodded and Cuddled close to his mother. He looked at Serah who caught on and lay down next to Cloud. When Zack stood, Claire sat up again.

"Where are you going?" She asked, biting her lip. Zack smiled weakly. He bent down and kissed Claire.

"Claire Farron, I love you my baby girl." He whispered as he knocked her out. He gently laid her so she would be comfortable, and stood once more. He let a couple of tears fall, but regained composure and turned around.

Xx

Zack stood in front of the Shinra Army. He shook his head.

"Boy oh boy, the price of freedom is steep." He said to himself. He took out the Buster Sword and held it up.

"Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honor as SOLDIER! Come and get it!" He charged straight into the Shinra Army.

Xx

Zack lay on the ground, his blood mixing with rain pooled around him. He looked up at the sky, waiting to die.

"You don't really want to go now, do you?" Angeal's voice echoed.

"Angeal, of course I don't want to, but if it'll keep the army away from baby girl, I'll do anything." He answered.

"There is a way to stay with her." Angeal's voice said. Zack gave the sky a confused glance.

"How? We both know I'm going to die any minute now." He said.

"You have to figure that out for yourself Zack." Spoke Angeal's voice. He heard sloshing, and slowly looked around to see Claire crawling up to him. Claire was already crying.

"You stupid idiot." She sobbed, and immediately trying to cure him. Zack knew a simple cure wasn't going to help him, but he decided she would soon find that out herself. He gently took her into his arms and put her head on his chest.

"If you don't mind the blood, can help me fall asleep baby girl? He said, grunting.

"Of course it bothers me. But if you want me to, I'll stay." She whimpered, still trying to cure him.

"I'd like that. He said. Rain poured down on them. When Zack was about to close his eyes, Cloud's chocobo hair appeared.

"Zack." He said. Zack smiled lightly.

"For, the both of us," He started.

"Both of us?" Cloud edged him on.

"That's right, you're gonna," Zack continued.

"You're gonna," Cloud edged him on again. Zack reached out to him and pulled his head to his chest. "Live" He said, "You'll be, my living legacy." When Cloud rose, Zack's blood was on his face and some in his hair. Zack looked at the Buster Sword.

"My honor, my dreams, they're yours now." He said, handing Cloud the sword. Cloud slowly reached out for it, and Zack pushed it into him.

"I'm, your living legacy." Cloud repeated to Zack. Zack smiled and turned to Claire. Her whole face was covered in his blood. He pulled her into a kiss.

"I love you baby girl." He said, caressing her face one last time.

"I love you too SOLDIER boy." She said, her tears cleaning off some of the blood on her face. Zack smiled and closed his eyes.

**(I'm proud to say I cried like a baby when Zack died. I'm just sayin' :D)**


	8. Chapter Seven Aftermath

_Chapter 9- Aftermath_

Snow blinked as the glyph ended and brought them back into the Ma'habara cave. He looked around quickly to see if everyone was still there. Everyone was, except Lightning. Everyone was looking at the spot next to Vanille, where Lightning had been previously been standing.

"She took off, right after the glyph ended." Vanille answered everyone's silent question.

"Well, we should go looking for her." Hope said his initial shock fading. Everyone nodded in agreement. Going out of the dead end, the turned on to the other road, hoping Lightning would stop and wait for them, and that she actually went that way. Hope had suggested splitting up, but Fang had disagreed.

"Without Light here, the battle wouldn't be fair. Someone might get badly hurt." She said. Everyone walked silently. All Snow could think about was Zack. How long ago was it that he died? How long did the glyph last in reality? He mentally kicked himself for touching the glyph. Seeing Zack's memories was probably the reason Lightning had took off. He wondered if anyone else had been able to hear what he had been thinking. He really hoped Lightning did. Zack had really loved her. He was willing to prove that he was willing to die for her. He glanced at everyone. Fang was quiet, but she seemed to be herself, maybe in thought, maybe not deep. Sazh was shaking his head occasionally, muttering under his breath. Vanille had a sympathetic look on her face. Hope actually seemed disappointed more than sympathetic or thoughtful.

Snow decided he should voice these thoughts. "How many years do you think has passed, since Zack died?" Everyone glanced at Snow, and then looked down in thought.

"It can't be that long ago, Lightning doesn't look that much older." Vanille said, kicking a rock out of her way.

"What are you saying Vanille? She looks a ton older. How old is she anyway?" Fang chirped.

"Twenty-One." Snow answered absent-mindedly.

"She does look older, but I think it's because she lost Zack." Vanille answered Fang, "You know how people sometimes do that?"

"Do you think we should ask her about it when we eventually find her?" Hope asked quietly. Snow shook his head.

"She'd probably kill us." He said, only half joking.

Vanille gained her eidolon, and everyone pressed forward once more. Snow was beginning to wonder if Lightning had taken off in this direction. He began to worry when they boarded Atomos. He sighed as the trudged forward into the Sulya Springs. He walked forward with his head down.

Fang's arm outstretched in front of him, stopping his movements. When he looked up, Lightning was there. She was quietly sobbing, curled up into a ball on the side of the road. She made no movement to acknowledge everyone there. Fang was first to walk over to her. She gently rubbed Lightning's back to try to comfort her.

"I know this is a terrible time to ask, but where's your kid?" Fang asked softly. Lightning cried harder.

"I had Cloud babysit them, and when I came back there was blood everywhere…." Everyone's eyes widened as Fang interrupted her.

"Never mind about that then."

Xx

Everyone helped set up camp. Lightning had stopped crying a long time ago, and was now had gone to a secluded spot not too far away from the camp, just barely in earshot. She made no movement and the only sound that would come out of her was an occasional sniffle.

"I'm going to talk to her," Vanille whispered standing up.

"Maybe you should think twice about doing that kid." Sazh said.

"Nah she wouldn't hit Vanille." Fang said confidently, "Me, you, or Snow here she'd beat to a bloody pulp." Vanille nodded and walked over to Lightning.

"Lightning?" She said quietly. Lightning sniffled. "Yeah?"

"Do you mind if a sit with you?" Vanille asked gently. Lightning shook her head and scooted over and patted the ground next to her. Vanille complied. They sat together in silence for a while.

"Hey, Lightning, why did you change your name?" Vanille said biting her lip. Lightning hesitated.

"Every time I heard my name, I would burst into tears. I always pictured it to be him, but I would look and it wouldn't be him. I hated it. When we moved to Cocoon, I had a valid reason to change it. For a job. So I changed it. I kept the last name though. A lot of people think my last name is Farron simply because they've never seen me with him, like Snow. They don't mean anything by it, I think." She said.

"Although I have been quite the bitch." She added laughing darkly.

"What is it?" Vanille asked tracing patterns in the dirt.

"My last name? Fair." Lightning looked down to the ground.

"Never marry the heroes. They may never break your heart, but they die young, leaving you with an empty house full of memories and things that could never happen."

"What did you do with the house?" Vanille asked after another moment of silence.

"Haven't touched it since. Cloud might've gone in it, before…." She trailed off. "I still renew the lease every year. I know I'll never use it, but I just can't bring myself to give it up."

"Well if you know that, doesn't mean it's time to let it go?" Vanille asked quietly. Lightning shook her head.

"I just can't." Lightning said weakly. "Every time I eventually pass out of exhaustion because I can't sleep I wake up and," She paused to sniffle. "I feel like he's been there, but he's not. It's always just me in the room. Serah was the last person I had left; I haven't had contact with Kimber in years. I'm all alone now, everyone I care about dies. I thought I could save Serah by pushing her away, but that only caused her more trouble."

Vanille watched helplessly. Vanille was orphaned when she was young, so she simply had no memories of death, so she could even imagine losing everyone in your life.

"I want to believe Snow that she'll come back. But honestly, what are my chances?" Lightning was already composing herself. Lightning stood up.

"You should get some rest. It's late." She said softly, almost motherly.

Xx

Everyone had started to press forward early in the morning. Lightning hadn't woken anyone up; in fact she let them take their time getting ready to leave. She still took the lead. No one spoke as they made their way through the Sulya Springs.

A huge thud was heard and everyone's attention snapped to ahead of them. Lightning looked back at everyone.

"I'm going to check that out." She said and took off. The rest of the group looked at each other and shrugged before pressing forward.

In front of them, an Atticus had been angered by a blonde haired girl. Lightning stood beside her pulling out her gunblade. The blonde girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a sphere and tossed it to Lightning who caught it in one hand.

"The shit has hit the fan now, bitch." Lightning smirked, holding up her right arm, which glowing brightly with 5 orbs of materia. The blonde girl giggled stood from lacing up her purple converse boots and pulled the giant shuriken off her back.

"Say, Claire, How long has it been since you used that sphere grid?"

"It's been a while, hasn't it? We should make sure it didn't get rusty." They both laughed before launching a series of attacks and spells.

The blonde girl was clearly better at magic than attacking as she launched spell after spell without ever having to stop. It was long until the Atticus was standing up.

When the battle seemed to almost finished, the Atticus slashed out sending the blonde girl flying into a nearby tree. She let out a yelp of pain, and slumped over for a moment, before getting back up stood in a defensive stance.

From behind, sword after sword began piercing straight though the Atticus, effectively killing it. The Atticus fell forward revealing a dark haired man. He sent a glare to the blonde haired girl.

"Do I have to put a leash on you?" He seethed striding over to her. "Do you know one more hit like that and you could've been dead? Look at me!" At this point they were right I front of each other. The blonde girl lifted her head to make eye contact.

"I'm sorry Noctis." She said quietly. Noctis exhaled deeply and embraced her.

"Well I guess its okay since you're not hurt, Kimber." He mumbled. She nodded slowly. They separated and Kimberlynne looked at Lightning.

"Cloud's got your kids." She smiled at Lightning, whose eyes widened.

"They're, okay?" She asked quietly. Kimberlynne nodded.

"The blood was Cloud's. Tifa found him all bloodied up. It took him a while to recover, and both he and Tifa took care of A and Avie."

"Where are they now?" Lightning said quickly. Kimberlynne giggled.

"Somewhere around here. Come on let's go find em! Princey! Let's roll!" Kimberlynne grabbed Lightning's hand and took off. Noctis shook his head and ran after them.

"Guess we should follow them." Vanille said starting to run. The rest of the group followed suit. Up ahead, Lightning, Kimberlynne and Noctis had stopped to wait for the rest of the group.

"Mommy!"

Lightning's head snapped to the direction of the noise as a little boy and girl raced towards Lightning. She got down on her knees so she could embrace them when the collided into her. She smiled at them. The little boy was older than the girl, with his untamable black hair and mako blue eyes. The little girl shared the eyes, but had the strawberry blonde her mother had.

Cloud had walked up to Lightning. She stood and looked him in the eyes before embracing him. He looked awkward for a moment, before naturally returning the hug.

"I saw Serah," He mumbled. "She looks peaceful."

"Yeah, she does, doesn't she?" Lightning answered

Xx

Everyone had helped to set up camp and now all except Cloud and Averia were sitting by the fire. Cloud had gone to a secluded spot against a tree and had dozed off. Averia was jumping around place to place, not too far from her mother.

"She sure has a lot of energy." Hope commented, watching Averia run off to her uncle.

"Yeah, just like Daddy did. He was always ready to play." Angeal said looking up at his mother. Lightning nodded.

"Mhmm. Averia is just like daddy, never out of energy." She smiled at him.

"But Avie always goes to bed better than I do, doesn't she mommy?" Angeal asked. Lightning laughed.

"I think she just stays asleep better than you sweetheart, you both go to bed when you're supposed to." She replied. There was a comfortable silence after that.

"Averia!" Cloud shouted from his spot. Averia had wondered over to the giant flowers as a triffid rose and aimed to attack at Averia. Before anyone could think and the triffid to make a hit, Lightning grabbed Averia and rolled off to a side and started shooting at it effectively. Cloud had made it and pulling out a sword sent the triffid flying.

"Oh no mommy, oh no!" Averia was looking at a gash on her knee. Lightning looked at Averia and then herself.

"It's okay Avie." She said picking the small girl up and bring her back to the fire. Cloud already had a first aid kit and handed off to Lightning. She pulled out an antidote and a potion and gave it to Averia to drink as she cleaned up the wound. The girl obediently drank the liquids down with a grimace on her face. She stayed close to her mother for the rest of the night.

"Can I have some water mommy?" She asked after finishing. "Of course" Lightning replied as Cloud handed her a canteen. The gash closed slowly only leaving a slightly red mark.

"You're one tough cookie there. No crying at all. Just like your mommy here." Sazh chuckled. Averia grinned. "This wasn't bad, right mommy?" She said. Lightning made a snorting noise.

"No, not compared to what you've had before. It's time to go you too." She smiled lightly at both Angeal and Averia. They both nodded and went to lay down next to each other with each other feet in the other's faces. Cloud tossed Lightning a blanket and she draped it over the both of them. Angeal hugged Averia's legs and said,

"Night Avie."

"Night Night A." His sister replied. Lightning smiled softly and wished them both a good night before standing and taking a spot near next to them and Cloud.

"Are you alright?" Cloud asked quietly after both the children had fallen asleep. Lightning nodded.

"I didn't feel anything so I thought we both avoided the attack, but I guess not. I wonder how it managed to hit her and not me." She looked up at Cloud who looked up as well and shrugged.

"You're some help there Cloud." Kimberlynne giggled.

"You need to eat." Cloud said pulling a package of food out the bag that Kimberlynne had placed next to him and tossed it to Kimberlynne and handed one to Lightning. "You too." He said. Lightning opened that package without hesitation and started to eat while Kimberlynne stared at hers with a look of disgust.

"Kimber, eat. Now." Noctis said giving her a stern look. She grimaced before opening the package and started to eat slowly.

Xx

One by one, everyone had went to sleep, leaving Lightning, Cloud, and Snow the only ones awake. Cloud had gone back over to his spot away from the camp. Snow glanced at Lightning. He had so many questions to ask her, but he didn't know where to start. He sighed and looked up at the sky. Looking back to Lightning, he let out another sigh.

"Hey Light," He started.

"If it's about the glyph, go ask Cloud." She interrupted him. She was looking in the opposite direction. Snow glanced at Cloud, before quietly standing and striding over to him.

"What do you want?" Cloud said as Snow approached him. When Snow reached him, he noticed Cloud's eyes were closed. He opened them to stare at Snow. Snow blinked. Cloud had the same eyes as both Claire and Serah, but had the same piercing gaze as Lightning. They were steeled over, giving him a cold glare. Snow shook his head.

"How old is Averia?" Snow asked quietly. Cloud glanced over to Lightning before answering.

"She's two now." He answered.

"And Angeal?" Snow pressed.

"Four." Cloud answered with the same tone.

"Zack, How long ago was it?" Snow almost whispered. Cloud was scarier than Lightning; he didn't want to cross any line.

"It's been 2 years and a couple months. Ask Claire if you want the exact date." Cloud answered like any other question.

"How did Averia," Snow started.

"They had been trying for another kid, and then Shinra found us. Claire found out she was pregnant a couple months after." Cloud interrupted.

"What happened after?" Snow asked, noticing how Cloud had been avoiding using Zack's name.

"Claire passed out, and Angeal found us, Serah following behind. He sort of knew something bad happened and he needed to see. I had Serah drag the Buster Sword and I carried Claire to Midgar." Cloud paused, "Once Claire woke up, she cried all night curled up in a ball in the bathroom. She didn't do much the first couple months. She paid all the attention Angeal needed to him, and that was pretty much it." Cloud closed his eyes.

"I strongly believe the only reason she's still here because of Angeal." He finished. Snow looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Snow asked. Cloud opened his eyes again and looked at Snow.

"I've walked in her room when she was trying to kill herself countless times. She scared the shit out of Angeal. He was terrified of losing her and naturally, he freaked out when he saw a knife in her hand." Snow's eyes widened.

"What stopped her?" He asked. Cloud glanced at Lightning.

"I think Zack did." He said. Snow blinked.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed she doesn't get hurt in battle." Cloud shook his head. Snow thought about it, and she never did, she was always healing everyone else.

"Okay, but how does Zack have to do anything with this?" He asked. Cloud closed his eyes again.

"I don't even know, okay? All I know is that before he died, she had no magical force field, and now she does. Zack has something to do with it. That much I know. Today is proof. Averia had that gash, but Claire didn't." His eyes opened again and watched Lightning. She had lain down and Averia had crawled next to her and cuddled close to her mother. Angeal rested against her back. Averia had fallen back asleep. Lightning rose and took Angeal into her arms. Angeal blinked a couple times before clutching the material of Lightning's vest and started to sob. He was saying something and Lightning answered back until he started to calm down. Angeal hugged his mother and lie down next to Averia and fell back asleep.

"Don't tell anyone what I told you tonight, especially Claire. If you're really going through with marrying Serah, which you will if you want to live, you need to know that even Serah doesn't talk about him. If you have a question come to me. Claire still has yet to even deal with the grief, let alone accept fate." At that point, Angeal's eyes had opened once more and he was heading over to Cloud and Snow. When Angeal reached them, Cloud bent to down to his level and smiled.

"You should be asleep Angeal, even mommy is now." He motioned towards Lightning and Angeal followed his motion, before turning back to Cloud.

"She's not going anywhere, right?" He asked. Cloud ruffled his hair.

"Nope, she's staying with us. And we're all going home." He answered. Angeal glanced at his mother before looking back at Cloud.

"What is it Angeal?" Cloud asked.

"Mommy did that weird thing with her eyes when Daddy told her it was time to go to bed and she didn't want to but she fell asleep anyway." Angeal said quickly, "Is Daddy coming back too?" Cloud gave him a sympathetic look before answering him.

"You should go back to sleep Angeal, we have to get up early tomorrow." he said, standing up. Angeal looked down at the ground.

"Uncle Cloud, why did Daddy have to go?" he asked quietly. Cloud hesitated.

"He had to go, so you and mommy can be happy." He answered.

"Mommy hasn't been happy since Uncle Cloud, why did he really have to go?" Angeal asked. Cloud looked down at the ground.

"I understand Uncle Cloud, I'll go to bed. Good night." Cloud looked up at him.

"Good night Angeal." He said softly, ruffling his hair. Angeal trudged over to his mother and rested his head on his mother's leg.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Snow asked Cloud. He looked at Snow.

"How do you tell a four-year-old that his father is dead because the Shinra army doesn't know when to stop? When he's older and can accept these things, we'll tell him. But for right now, things are better of left unsaid." He answered, finally walking over to the campsite. He lay down next to Lightning and closed his eyes. Snow looked up at the sky before following Cloud back to the campsite.

Xx

Averia had the biggest amount of energy Snow had ever seen. Angeal was more reserved, and acted a lot like Lightning. Averia reminded Snow of Zack, they way she bounded off with her endless supply of energy. Both children had an excellent memory, Angeal being able to remember a huge amount of time with his father and Averia being able to recognize her mother.

Serah had been taking Lightning out for her birthday and Cloud agreed to take Angeal and Averia for the night. Lightning saw all the blood that night and she hasn't seen her children for about a year. Seeing Zack's death had made Angeal into quite the pessimist and he had firmly believed his mother wasn't coming back either. It was easy to tell that Angeal still felt that way as he stayed close to her. Averia liked to run off, but then would notice she was ahead of everyone else and run back to Lightning and hold her hand for a while, and then go back to running around.

Xx

The group set up camp right before Taejin's Tower. It was dark and the only ones awake were Cloud, Lightning, Vanille, and Snow. Snow rose to his feet and headed over to Cloud.

"What now?" Cloud asked.

"Last night, Angeal talk about Light's eyes doing something weird, what did he mean by that?" Snow asked.

"I honestly don't know." Cloud answered, "All I know is she can't sleep normally without," He paused.

"What did she do before she met him?" Snow asked looking over at Lightning.

"Not much. A little while after my father died, she would sleep in my bed. We were always back to back, no contact needed. She actually didn't like it when I acknowledged her. That's why I don't think either of us found it awkward until we got older. But I never had to tell her that, she just stopped after a while." Cloud looked up at the stars.

"That was probably my first mistake." He said. Snow glanced at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I never talked to her about our father. I let her bottle everything up." Cloud looked down and turned to Lightning. She was lying down, ruffling Averia's hair. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm not fit to help anyone." Cloud shook his head.

Lightning stirred as pyreflies began to circle around in the air. They slowly began to form into something as it began pick up Lightning and pull her into what formed into a lap. Feet began to appear and the eventually a chest and a face with mako blue eyes. Both Snow and Vanille's eyes were widened and mouths agape. Cloud shook his head and walked over to the camp.

"Hey Zack" He said sitting down across from him and Lightning. Zack gave a small wave and pulled Lightning closer to him. Snow had walked back over as well.

"How? Are you here?" Snow asked quietly. Zack chuckled.

"Ready for a story?" He asked smiling at Zack. Snow nodded slowly.

"I'm Claire's aeon. Normally, a fayth picks a rock because it's non-living, therefore they stay a faith forever. Because I only want to protect Claire so when she dies, I will go with her. That's why I age. This would've been my twenty-three year old body. I choose her as my "rock", so only she can summon me. "Zack smiled down at Lightning and ruffled her hair.

"Why doesn't she know this?" Vanille asked, "Hasn't someone told her?

"You can't tell her, she can only find out by herself or from Zack, or else she'll never be able to summon him again. So don't say anything." Cloud answered. Zack nodded.

"Why haven't you told her?" Snow asked.

"I've tried. The only way she summons me is when she unconsciously does it, like now. She's having a dream and believing I'm here, effectively summoning me. But before she wakes up, she dismisses me. I've never been able to even tell her in a dream. She hasn't remembered a dream in two years." Zack said ruffling Angeal and then Averia's hair.

"And when you tell her, she won't even be able to unconsciously summon him. So I mean when I say shut it." Cloud added. Zack nodded in agreement.

"I'll be up anyway, I'll take watch." Zack said resting his head on Claire's.

Xx

Elevator by elevator, the group fought their way through Taejin's Tower. Vanille was working on the head band she had promised Averia, and had to be constantly stopped or pulled in a different direction. Everyone sighed in relief once she announced she was finished. Vanille giggled and placed it on top of Averia's head. The small girl's face lit up. "Thank you!" She said and bounded off to her mother.

"Look mommy!" She yelled. Lightning smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Very pretty." She said and gave Vanille a small smile of thanks. Vanille nodded. "Mommy, can you braid my hair?" Averia said looking up at Lightning. Lightning looked down at her a smiled softly.

"Tonight, I promise, okay?" She said and Averia nodded and she began to run ahead. "Averia! You need to stay close right now sweetheart." Averia looked disappointed, but complied and took hold of her mother's hand. They walked the rest of the way through Taejin's Tower in silence.

With Cloud accompanying the group if l'cie, the encounter with the fal'cie was basically a walk through the park. Everyone including Fang was quiet on the way to Oerba.

Xx

As promised, Lightning braided Averia's hair as the group decided to stay at Vanille and Fang's house for the night. Angeal watched closely as his mother moved around the room, making sure they were all set for bed that night. Angeal and Averia climbed into one of the beds, each others' feet in the other's faces. They both didn't seem to mind. And for the first time, Snow actually paid attention to the way Lightning put them to bed.

"Good night Angeal." She said and kissed his forehead. She repeated the action to Averia and wished her a good night as well. Angeal hugged his sister's legs.

"Night Avie." He said. His sister giggled in return and hugged his legs. "Night Night A." Lightning smiled at them before returning to her seat on the couch next to Cloud. For a couple of hours everyone engaged in small talk.

"So when are you finally going to tell us about Zack, Light?" Fang asked. Lightning glared, as Cloud and Kimberlynne coughed.

"You saw the glyph, and that's all you need to know and more." Lightning seethed. Fang stood up.

"You think I don't have pain seeing Oerba like this? Do you know how bad it feels to tell stories that you know will never happen again?" Fang yelled. Lightning stood up as well.

"I never asked you to tell those stories and you shouldn't feel the need to ask me about mine! Zack is dead! It doesn't matter anymore! He's gone, okay, gone!" Claire yelled. "I'll never grow old with him, he'll never see Angeal and Averia grow up, Averia will never meet him!" She finished and ran out of the house. Both Cloud and Kimberlynne rose.

"I'll get this one. You talk to Angeal." Cloud said as he ran after Lightning. Kimberlynne looked over to the bed. Angeal was sitting up, clutching his pillow, eyes wide. Snow felt sympathy for the little boy. After he seemed to get over shock, Angeal jumped out of the bed and went to go chase after his mother. Kimberlynne stopped him.

"No! I want to see my mommy!" He yelled, squirming out of Kimberlynne's hold.

"A, she's not going anywhere, I promise. Uncle Cloud's going to get her. She would never leave you." Kimberlynne tried saying.

"Mommy said the same thing about Daddy, and he's gone!" He screamed. An even smaller hand took hold of Angeal's small one.

"It's gonna be okay, A. Mommy will come back, I know she will." Averia said hugging her brother. Angeal stopped his tantrum and hugged his sister back.

"You're right Avie. I'm sorry Aunti Kimber." Kimberlynne smiled at them and stood up.

"It's okay Angeal; now both of you need to go back to bed." She said. Both Angeal and Averia nodded and went back to the bed they had been sharing. Kimberlynne turned to Fang.

"Rule Numero Uno when trying NOT to piss off the Farron's: NEVER speak of Zackary Fair." She said shaking her head. "Expect your ass being handed to you on a golden platter within the next couple hours."

Xx

Cloud found Lightning on the rooftop. Sitting next to her, he exhaled deeply.

"You wanna talk about it?" He said quietly. Lightning shook her head.

"I miss him." She sniveled after a moment of silence.

"I miss him too." Cloud answered. The spent a good three hours together on the rooftop in complete silence.

"I should go back to Angeal and Averia. I probably scared Angeal." Lightning said rising to her feet. Cloud nodded.

"I'll be there in a minute." Cloud replied. Lightning nodded and went back inside. Cloud looked up at the sky and closed his eyes.

"Zack, I really could use your help here."


	9. Chapter Eight Destruction

_Chapter Eight- Destruction_

Zack had appeared that night, picking up a blanket and draping it over his children as he did. He ruffled Angeal's hair fatherly, and looked over to the other end of the bed and smiled.

"You should be asleep kiddo." He said as two small arms outstretched outwards him. He chuckled and bent over to hug his daughter.

"Goodnight Daddy." She said yawning. Zack smiled.

"Goodnight Avie. Sweet dreams." He said and then climbed into the bed that Lightning was lying on and snuggled close to her.

Xx

Hope awoke before Lightning had, and Cloud had to cover his mouth before he yelled out that Zack was there. Zack grinned and waved as Cloud explained to a poor confused Hope what was going on. Sitting down on the couch, he eyed a sleeping Noctis and Kimberlynne. They has token the couch, as Noctis was slumped against an arm and Kimberlynne snuggled close to him in between his legs. A blanket had haphazardly been draped over their waists, as Kimberlynne's head rested on Noctis's chest. His hand was placed as if he were playing with a strand of Kimberlynne's blonde hair before he had fallen asleep.

"Wow, you wouldn't think they would fall asleep like that with all their fighting." Hope said glancing at Cloud nervously. He grunted in what Hope believed was agreement.

"It's only playful, their fighting." Cloud said after a while. Hope nodded. After another awkward silence, Hope said,

"You act a lot like Lightning." Hope said Quietly. Cloud paused to look at Hope.

"I am her older brother, I think she naturally acts like me." He answered.

"Did Serah?" Hope asked, his eyes widened and muttered a 'sorry' after realizing what he had blurted out. Cloud sighed.

"The last time I saw her awake, no, she didn't. Not in the least bit." Cloud said, "Now you're getting a bit personal." Hope looked down and muttered another apology.

"Jeez Cloud back off the poor kid." Kimberlynne muttered sleepily, "He didn't go that personal. I'll tell you everything you want to know kid." She giggled as Cloud sent her a glare. She slowly detached herself from Noctis and went into her bag Cloud had before. Pulling out a yellow ball she tossed it over to Cloud and said "Alicia." Cloud caught it easily and tossed it back to her saying "Brianna" The ball went back and forth and eventually passed on to Zack who answered with "Pete" and then to Hope who still had no idea what was going on.

"The last name was Zelda, now you think of a name that starts with an A." Kimberlynne said. Hope answered with an embarrassed "Oh" and said "Andrew." He made to toss to Zack, but he shook his head.

"I'm afraid Claire's waking up, I'm going to have to go in like 5 seconds." He answered and then disappeared. Lightning awoke with a grunt, as Hope passed the ball to Kimberlynne, who said "Barret" and chucked the ball at Lightning's head. She let a squeak of surprise, before picking the ball up and throwing it violently back at Kimberlynne saying "Cecilia." Kimberlynne laughed and dodged the oncoming ball, which bounced and Cloud caught it.

"And when it becomes dangerous I put an end to this game." he said as Kimberlynne answered with a childish 'aww' and took the ball from Cloud and put the ball back in the bag.

"Do you have a brush Kimber?" Lightning asked as she came over and sat next to Cloud. Kimberlynne nodded and pulled it out her bag and lightly tossing it to her. Lightning caught it effortlessly and began to brush her hair. Kimberlynne playfully poked Noctis in the gut, whose eyes snapped open.

"Wakey wakey Princey." She said smiling at him. He sighed but sat up rubbing his eyes.

"Should I get everyone else up?" Kimberlynne said and Lightning looked at Cloud who shrugged. Kimberlynne rolled her eyes before going over to shake everyone else up. Fang walked over and looked at Lightning.

"Sunshine, we need to talk." She said motioning her outside. Lightning nodded and stood and looked at Cloud, "Watch my kids for a minute?" Cloud answered with a curt nod and Lightning followed Fang outside. Everyone was quiet, the silence becoming awkward.

"Oh relax guys, Fang's apologizing for last night. They'll both come back in soon." Vanille said, trying to stop the awkwardness filling the room. Kimberlynne took out the yellow ball again and tossed it to Cloud with an "Angeal."

Xx

Fang did apologize, and Lightning had accepted, and both came in like Vanille had said. The group set out shortly, and after a brief visit to the old school house, the group took off to the bridge.

"Ragnarok, Come day of wrath, O' Pulse l'cie, embrace thy fate, thine home to burn, that fallen souls might bear our plea, to hasten to Divine's return, O' piteous wandering Ragnarok, make of this day a brave epoch. Deliver the Divine, Ragnarok." Serah's small form approached them. Lightning let out a small "what" as Snow looked at her with wide eyes.

"Serah! How did you-" He said as Serah walked closer to him and smiled.

"I was waiting, for you to open your eyes." She said and then embraced the much larger man. Cloud let out a animalistic snarl.

"All the time I was asleep, I knew what was happening. I kept trying to think up a way to save Cocoon, together." She said. Snow looked down at her.

"Serah?" he said, He looked at her and his eyes widened and pushed her away as Cloud took a defensive stance. Serah got back up and said,

"You get it now. There are no gods with miracles to save us, no matter where you look. That's why we have to call one. Destroy Orphan, We'll save the world!"

"Stop it" Lightning yelled which made Averia flinch next to her. The poor girl had never heard her mother use that tone to anyone. Her hand was beside her gunblade, and she was glaring at Serah.

"You can't do that, you love me too much. You do, don't you Claire?" Lightning backed up a bit, but Snow stepped in.

"Enough already. Listen up; we are all shooting for the same goal here." He said.

Serah closed her eyes as a bright light flashed around her. A small blast erupted and she turned into Barthandelus.

"And the result of that is this." He said. Snow glared and swung a punch at him.

"You son of a-" Barthandelus disappeared and reappeared a few feet away. Snow got up and tried once more, only this time he was sent back flying.

"You betray your fal'Cie and chase after dreams and shadows." He said. Lightning let out an ear-splitting scream as she dropped to her knees.

"I don't know who the fuck you are, or what you think you are, but I will fucking rip you apart." Cloud snarled, his word spitting out like venom as he charged at Barthandelus, sword ready. Barthandelus tried to send him flying like he had with Snow but took a full blow from the end of Cloud's sword with a face of pure shock.

"Who do you think you are, attacking a fal'Cie?" Barthandelus said, changing form.

"I'm Cloud mother-fucking Strife." He answered, getting ready to launch another attack.

"Cloud." Kimberlynne said, walking forward, "I got this." She gave them all a reassuring smile. Looking at her hand, she said,

"When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end The goddess descends from the sky," She lowered her hand as it began to glow purple and held it out, "Wings of light and dark spread afar. She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting." Kimberlynne giggled.

"But when trouble comes to invade, she shall not let it interrupt. She shall destroy anyone who dares intrude. Omega!" She shouted as e blast of purple light shot Barthandelus forcing him back into his original form. Kimberlynne let a grunt and Noctis caught her from falling. Barthandelus let out an annoyed snarl, but left, leaving an airship behind. Cloud quickly went and put an arm around Lightning. He looked up at Kimberlynne. "You alright?" He asked. Kimberlynne nodded.

"How's Claire?" She asked. Cloud shook his head. "I don't know he answered, "She seems paralyzed or something." He gently went to pick her up as her body fell limp against him.

"Zack," She murmured as bubbles filled with magic went around her, but nothing happened. Cloud's eyes widened as he looked at Kimberlynne who was biting her lip. Cloud shook her gently.

"Claire, are you alright? What's wrong? What did he do to you?" He said urgently. She realized the orbs of magic again before passing out on Cloud's shoulder. Cloud let out a grunt.

"Spikey!" A loud voice called making Cloud wince. Looking over, he could see a bright happy girl along with a dark hair man coming in his direction.

"Yuffie. What are you doing here?"

"Well I was visiting Tifa and she said you went off to find your sister and I really wanted to meet her so I came here!" She giggled, "Vinnie came here to meet her too."

"You dragged me here because Tifa said you couldn't just go alone." The man answered shaking his head after catching up with her. Cloud let out an exasperated sigh. Handing Yuffie his sword, which she had difficulty with do passed it on to the man. He took Lightning and picking her so he was giving her a piggy-back.

"Vincent, how did you get here?" Cloud asked the man.

"Cid." He answered. Hope could easily tell This man was much like Cloud in the social department.

"Is he still around here?"

"He's coming, said something about 'these damn monsters wrecking his beautiful spacecraft'" Yuffie said.

"So this your little girlfriend Cloud?" Fang said jokingly. Cloud sent her a nasty glare before saying,

"This is Yuffie. She steals materia." And he started walk only giving Yuffie a chance to say "hey!" And she started to chase after him ranting. Vincent shook his head and followed.

"Uhh, shouldn't we this here airship?" Sazh asked pointing towards it.

"I don't think Cloud likes it. And besides, I haven't seen Pops in ages!" Kimberlynne giggled and started a race between her and Angeal.

"Who's 'Pops'?" Hope asked. Noctis shook his head.

"His name is Cid. He's my father-in-law. He spends his living creating and flying airships, Although he seems to have acquired a spacecraft these days." Noctis answered. After a little wandering, Yuffie helped Cloud locate Cid and his ship.

"Well if it isn't Spikes himself. I didn't expect the kid to find ya so quickly." He said, giving his daughter a pat on the head.

"How ya been kid? Your husband there treatin' you right?" He said taking a drag of his cigarette. Kimberlynne nodded.

"Of course he is. And he's right here." Kimberlynne pointed to Noctis, who nodded.

"So where to now?" He said.

"Home." Cloud said.

"You can't take Lightning home yet." Hope said, "She's a l'cie. She'll turn into a monster if she doesn't complete her focus." Cloud gave him a look that said 'no shit Sherlock'. Kimberlynne sighed. "One you all need to turn into Ragnarok, am I right?" Everyone gave her an odd look.

"What? The poem that fal'Cie was saying threw you off?" Kimberlynne shook her head. Let's go kick that Orphan thing's ass and let's go Home! I'm tired of Pulse and Cocoon."

"Alright, just give the crew some time to get ready and we'll head off." Cid said, showing the group the way into the ship.

Xx

Cloud had put Lightning on a bed and he fell asleep slumped in a chair next to her. He awoke before she did, and spent the time staring blankly at a wall.

"Cloud?" Lightning said quietly when she had awoke. He looked over to her smiled lightly.

"Hey. You're awake." She sat up, and they shared a moment of silence.

"Why can't I summon him Cloud?" Lightning said, looking up directly into Cloud's eyes.

"Who told you?" Cloud asked.

"Barthandelus told me in my head. And it hurt like hell." Claire responded. Cloud let out a sigh as he frowned. Lightning waited patiently as he hesitated. He looked her straight in the eye.

"You can't summon him anymore. You had to find out by either finding it out on your own or Zack telling you." He answered, slowly. Lightning looked down, and let out a heavy sigh, trying to keep back tears.

"You mean, I'll never be able to summon him, not once? Why wouldn't he tell me?" Claire sniffled.

"You did summon him, Claire, whenever you fell into a deep sleep he would come to you. He protected you ever since. He tried to tell you, I know he did." Cloud said trying to comfort her, "He gave up his freedom for you. He still loves you with all his being Claire. Please look at me." He finished. Claire looked back up into his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Cloud asked awkwardly. Claire let a dark laugh.

"Like the opportunity of a lifetime was just snatch away from me before I even knew I had it." She answered, looking back down to the ground.

"Look, I know, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make this better, but I don't know how." Cloud said.

"It's okay Cloud. I know this isn't going to get better, but I want to thank you for doing what I would've done." Claire got up and made her way out the door.

Xx


	10. Chapter Nine The SOLDIER Way

**X Ohai, I know no one probably read this, but I was thinking because I never really go on here unless to update or read when Ima bored, I'd start a facebook account to talk to you guys. I'm on there like everyday, so I can answers questions and shidizzle. I also have a couple plans to start new stories and stuff, and I kinda have plans for this story. Contact me here and tell me what you think.**

**X Sorry it took me so long, I know how I want the story to end, not how to get it to the end :[**

_Chapter Nine- The SOLDIER Way_

"Damn it!" The blonde cussed out loud at the engine that had broken on his beloved spacecraft. He took a long drag of his cigarette before stopping to look at the piece of machine that refused to act the way it should.

"Ya know, cussing at inanimate objects is a sign of craziness." His daughter walked beside him with an all-knowing smirk, a trait she had no idea she learned from her mother.

"Well you know what? You see if you and your lazy ass can fix it!" he said playfully hitting that back on his daughter's head. Her purple eyes gleamed with excitement as she took a closer look at the engine. Taking a wrench and playing with different bolts and screws, she spent a good portion of an hour fiddling around. Frustration finally got the better of her and she starting to bang at the engine's exterior.

"Hitting and throwing stuff at it's not gonna fix it you ass, it's only gonna make it worse." Her Father said taking the last drag of his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and stepping on it.

After a good 5 minutes of the girl's bashing, the engine roared to life and worked better than it did before. Her father's mouth dropped open in pure disbelief. The girl smirked triumphantly.

"Bashing it won't work my ass, Pops." She smirked. Cid blinked before watching his daughter walk away as if nothing had happened.

"Ahh, if only you were her to see how much Kimber keeps turning into you everyday." He chuckled softly to himself before lighting up another cigarette and following his daughter.

Xx

Hope yawned quietly and watched Lightning fold all of Cloud, Cid, and Yuffie's clothing into separate piles to return back to their rightful owners.

"Here's some extra clothes for you to sleep in, you want me to wash the ones you're in now?" Kimberlynne came and handed Lightning some clothes as she did.

"Yeah, thanks. Do you have any extra clothes for A and Avie?" she asked putting the clothes off to the side as if to not lose them in the pile.

"I packed some, they're in the bag over there. I'll wash the ones they've worn already. Are those clean clothes of Cloud's?"

"Um, yeah. This pile is." She said motioning to a pile on the left. Kimberlynne gently picked through the clothes, never unfolding them, and walked away with a outfit saying "Thanks." As she went. After the last article of clothing was folded, Claire took the pile of clothes Kimberlynne had given her and turned to Hope.

"I'm going to change. The kids are asleep in the other room, if they come out looking for me tell them I'm the bathroom." She said walking towards the door. Hope nodded and sighed.

"Hey Clai- Oh. Where's Claire?" Kimberlynne said walking back into the room.

"The bathroom," He said before adding, "Changing." Kimberlynne nodded and let out an "ah." and plopped herself down into a chair. Lightning emerged after an awkward moment of silence and Kimberlynne smiled and rose to her feet.

"Can I have your dirty clothes?" She asked as Claire handed her the discarded items of clothing. She was down to a Navy Blue tank top and matching Pajama bottoms with stripes.

"How about A and Avie's? And does Kid here want his clothes washed? He can borrow some of Noct's." She turned to face Hope. "They might be big on ya, but they'll be good for tonight." Hope nodded.

"That would be great, if he doesn't mind." He said. Kimberlynne shook her head.

"Does he have some clothes there Claire?" She asked as Lightning was bent over picking up her children's dirty clothing. Hope noticed a glint of metal he hadn't seen before around Lightning's neck but avoided looking any further. He didn't want to seem like he was checking her out.

"Um, is this his?" She asked holding something up as Kimberlynne nodded. Lightning stood up and handed her the dirty clothes and Hope the clean ones.

"Here, go change and then give your clothes to Kimber." Lightning said and Hope obeyed.

"Thank you so much for doing this for me." Hope heard Lightning say through the door.

"No problem, It's kinda pointless for me to just do mine and Noct's. Besides, I miss washing little clothes." He heard Kimberlynne's voice quivered.

"It's almost been a year now, hasn't it?" Lightning whispered, but Hope caught on, "I'm so sorry."

"No, no it's fine, I need to just get it off of my mind." Kimberlynne let out a heavy sigh. Hope opened to the door to the bathroom and instantly Kimberlynne smiled.

"All set, Kiddo?" She asked as Hope nodded and handed her his clothes while muttering a "Thanks" She turned to leave as Lightning said,

"If you need anything, at all, just come to me? Okay?" Kimberlynne turned around and smiled before walking out of the room. Lightning let out a sigh before bending over to pick up the piles of folded clothes. This time, Hope recognized the glint of metal, and realized it was another necklace, in addition to her other one.

"Hey, that necklace, it looks like-" Hope started.

"The Buster Sword, yeah, I think I know what I'm wearing." Lightning huffed. Hope eyed it. It was attached to a simple chain, and connected by a hole in the handle.

"How'd you get it?" Hope asked. Lightning stood straight and looked at him.

"Who do you think?" She said, shaking her head.

"Well I don't know. You don't wear your ring-" Hope started.

"I do to wear my ring thank you very much." Lightning interrupted, holding on her left hand, with the diamond sparkling as she did, "Why are being so weird Hope? I should expect you of all people would just know these things." As she spoke, Angeal opened the door and seemed to tumble into the room.

"Hi Mommy." He said sleepily coming over to her. She smiled and patted his head with a free hand.

"Hi Angeal, is your sister coming?" She asked. When Angeal shook his head Lightning looked up to Hope.

"She'll be up in a minute, I'll be right back okay?" She said and Hope nodded.

Xx

The ship was running, and Cid was content with that. After Yuffie did whatever she could to stall, like double checking to make sure everyone was on board and asking Cid if there was any aerial creatures that might be a problem, Cloud and Vincent stood and waited patiently, Lightning brushing Averia's hair, and Vanille giggling and making a necklace. The others were all in different areas of the ship, simply waiting for it to take off.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Cid asked cigarette dangling from his mouth. Everyone answered with a nod or a yes.

Xx

Being crystallized was frightening to Claire. She hated not knowing where she was, or when she was.

_You know, being crystallized is supposed to be a good thing. _Claire's eyes snapped open. She watched at shooting stars fell through the sky landing on the ground leaving a spark you would expect to see a firework do in the sky. It reminded her of her home when she was little. It reminded her of Spira.

"Where are you?" She asked quietly, turning around and looking everywhere she could.

_You gotta summon me._

"But I can't, I can't summon you anymore." She whimpered.

_You can here. I promise. Try it out._ Claire sighed. With her eyebrows furrowed, she tried summoning him. Trying to remember what Kimberlynne had said to her. 'Believe that the summon's here, and he'll show up.' She had said. Her eyes widened when he appeared before her, smiling. His head tilted to the side, and he embraced her slowly. She gently placed her hands on his chest; He was slightly colder to the touch than she remembered, but he felt like him. She looked up at his face, before burrowing her own in his chest.

"This doesn't feel real." She murmured quietly. Zack chuckled.

"You should know this isn't real baby girl. But I need you to do me a favor." Zack said pulling her away to make her look at him.

"What is that?" Claire asked.

"Tell me you love me, one more time." He said, gently caressing her face. Claire smiled.

"I love you, my big oaf of a SOLDIER boy husband, Zackary Fair, and I always will. No matter what. Even death hasn't gotten in the way of that." She said smiling. Zack beamed.

"And I love you, my little beautiful baby girl wife, Claire Fair, and I always will. Forever and Always." He said and kissed her. He heaved out a heavy sigh and played with a strand of her hair.

"Does this mean, I can stay with you, forever?" Claire mumbled, resting her cheek on his chest as she did.

"No, this is the part where I wake you up." He answered. Claire's eyes widened and pulled away from him.

"You can't wake me up, not now. No, why can't I stay here, with you?" She whimpered, looking down to the ground. Zack sighed and took her hands in his own.

"If I don't wake you up, new fal'Cie will, and give you a new focus. I can stop the craziness here. I can ensure your safety." He said, gently playing with her ring.

"I don't care, just please, don't." Claire cried out, and Zack embraced her.

"What will Angeal and Averia do without you? We both know I can't come back, but you can." He murmured in her ear. She sniffled.

"That's not fair." She said, clutching his shirt. He chuckled.

"It's the truth baby girl." He murmured, and a comfortable silence fell between them.

"What are you doing?" She whispered, looking up at him. He smiled down at her.

"Waking up your friends. And your sister of course. Your Pulse friends are proving to be a problem though. But hey, at least it buys us time right?" He said moving to pick her up. She clung to him, and he brought her over to a rock where he rested against with her in his lap.

She didn't know how much time passed, but she didn't care.

"It's been about 4 hours, in case you were wondering." Zack said. She smiled and shook her head.

"I wasn't, I'm just happy to be able to spend so much time with you, even though I can't show you how great your kids are." She said looking up at him. He beamed.

"I have seen, and they are everything and more than I ever could have asked for. Just like their mother." He said lightly poking her nose. She giggled. He smiled before lifting her chin up and kissing her. He rested his forehead on hers and said,

"Baby girl, It's time to wake up now."

Xx

Cloud had easily caught Lightning who fell forward once being woken up. Her eyes opened slowly, and she drowsily looked over at Cloud, then to the crystallized Cocoon.

"They really did it." She mumbled. Cloud nodded, helping her stand up straight. Angeal and Averia nearly tackled her back down, with each of them latching on to a leg. She merely smiled and bent down to hug them.

"Don't do that again Mommy. You were a rock." Angeal scolded, latched onto her right leg. She gently ruffled his hair and apologized.

"Hey my brand is gone." Hope called holding his wrist. Lightning turned around and unzipped her jacket to look at her own brand, and to find it was gone.

"Serah!" Snow called out and everyone turned around. Serah and Dajh walked towards them and Snow embraced Serah. She giggled, walking over to Lightning, before giving her a hug.

"Im so sorry." Lightning mumbled, pulling away from her. Serah smiled and told her it was okay, before walking over to Cloud. She motioned Snow to come over, and he obeyed.

"If it's alright with you Cloud, we would like to get married." She said. He sighed before looking over at Lightning, who nodded. Looking back to Serah, he nodded as well. Serah and Snow laughed and hugged each other while thanking Cloud. Lightning looked around, before locking eyes with Cloud.

"Where's Kimber and Noct?" She asked. Cloud motioned his head to in front of them, where they were breaking the crystal carefully and slowly.

"They said something about Fang and Vanille being in there. I don't know." He answered, "You have to remember Kimberlynne is where the insanity comes from in our family." Lightning shook her head and patted Angeal's.

"I think you match her Cloud." She said crossing her arms and smiling at him.

"That's a crock of bull and you know it. I'm just an idiot." Cloud said genuinely smiling back at her. She shook her head and watched as Kimberlynne lost patience and punched a huge hole into the crystal. Noctis visibly scolded her, to which she yelled back to.

A small hand reached out of the hole and Kimberlynne latched onto it. Noctis helped her pull out a frazzled Vanille, and then Fang who was rather normal. They all made their way back to the rest of the group.

"I win this one Princey. See? Both Vanille and Fang made it out alive. And this time my hand isn't bleeding at all." Kimberlynne held up her hand to show Noctis.

"Kimberlynne, you are so lucky you are my wife and I love you." Noctis said shaking his head. Kimberlynne giggled and pecked him on the nose.

"I love you too Princey, Now let's go find Pops and go home!"

Xx

"It's broken, I need a new damn part!" Cid exclaimed.

"Well go find the damn part!" Kimberlynne yelled back annoyed. Cid shook his head.

"Look, Spira's just around the corner anyway, we'll cut through the Omega Ruins and get a spacecraft there." Cid took a drag of his cigarette. Kimberlynne's face lit up.

Xx

Cloud let out a frustrated sigh. "I think I hear a damn Malboro." He muttered to himself. Kimberlynne walked up to him.

"Oh shut your mouth Farron." She smiled at him.

"You shut your mouth Highwind." Cloud shot playfully back at her. They both shared a short chuckle before Kimberlynne gazed out in front of her.

"Ah the Omega Ruins. The most dangerous part of Spira. This should be fun with a whole pack of people who have no idea on how to handle these beasts." Cloud let out another chuckle, then turned to face the group.

"Claire, Kimberlynne, and I will take the lead. You guys don't know how to handle these things." He said, shaking his head. Fang took a step forward.

"We're not dummies when it comes to monsters. We can handle them." She said.

"Shut your mouth, you don't." Cid said, lighting the ever-present cigarette in his mouth. "You know how to deal with Pulsian monsters. You don't know jack shit when it comes to Spiran fiends. They're much stronger, attack differently, require more skill to defeat, and have different weaknesses. And since we are in the Omega Ruins, it's best that you just stick behind Spikes here." Kimberlynne giggled.

"Hey Cloud, you remember that Malboro you thought you heard?" She said as a Great Malboro appeared in front of them from a blind corner.

"Get back!" Lightning screamed and charged forward along with Kimberlynne and Cloud as the Malboro emitted its famous 'bad breath'. Both Kimberlynne and Lightning seemed unaffected by it, while Cloud got every status ailment he could get. Lightning focused on attacking while Kimberlynne healed Cloud, before the two of them joined her, affectively killing the fiend quickly. Kimberlynne sighed.

"Good thing we're stronger. I hate those things." She said as the pyreflies of the malboro flew above her head.

"Ah shit, its oozing fucking blue blood!" Lightning cursed, trying to side-step the liquid that was adding in amount on the ground. Both Kimberlynne and Cloud laughed, side-stepping as well. Kimberlynne shook her head in mock-disappointment.

"Ah ah, no swearing in front of your children Claire." She said giggling.

"Like Cloud hasn't before." She scoffed, starting to walk around the blue blood, her children following suit, giggling as their mother told them not to say such bad words.

Xx

"I'm not touching it." Snow muttered as everyone looked at the glyph in front of them.

"You should." A child's voice said as Snow whipped his head around to see where it came from, before his eyes landed on a small boy. Kimberlynne seemed to recognize him.

"Oh hey, Bahamut. This could be bad." Kimberlynne said waving nervously to him, "Or it could be good."

"You stole the words from my mouth." Bahamut answered, "You have already seen the memories of most thought. But it is Claire's decision that shall rule. What memories you will see on this glyph, and what memories you will see on the next. Mentality is crucial. Positive will bring Positive. Negative will bring Negative. Claire decides."

Bahamut disappeared after his speech, leaving Snow dreadfully confused. Lightning eyed the glyph.

"I pick Positive." She said, slamming her hand on the glyph.

Xx

The original Angeal stood before Zack, holding up a half of a sword, smiling slightly. Zack sighed and took the sword by the hilt.

"Zack," Angeal started to walk out of what seemed to be a training room. "Embrace your dreams." This caused an audible 'huh?' to come out of Zack.

"If you want to be a hero you need to have dreams… and honor." Angeal said walking out of the room.

Xx

A booted foot came out of nowhere and hit Zack square in the face. A couple yards away, a blonde girl landed on her feet, panting. Zack winced as he set his jaw back in place and spitting up the blood that had come into his mouth.

"Not bad." He said after a minute. The girl sighed and collapsed onto the floor.

"You win." She whined," You and your nonliving ability to take hits." Zack smiled and offered the girl his hand.

"That's what you get for getting pummeled by Angeal every day. You're really fast. I don't think I could even make a hit if I tried." Zack said when the girl accepted his hand and hoisted her up.

"Thanks, that's what you get for training with Genesis everyday." She smiled. They walked out of the training room and into the SOLDIER lobby area. Zack plopped onto a couch and groaned.

"You know, I know something about you." The girl said turning to him and giggling. Zack looked at her.

"What do you know about me?" He asked, not really interested in the current conversation.

"Well, if I told you, I'd probably creep you out." She answered, taking the opposite seat on the couch. Zack sat up.

"Okay, now I really want to know." Zack said giving her a look. She only giggled.

"You sure you want to know?" She said and Zack nodded.

"Well, you see, I'm kind of, oh what do you call them? Anyways, I sometimes have dreams of people that are close to me. It's their future." The girl said. Zack tilted his head to the side for a moment.

"A Psychic is the term I suppose. So you had a dream about me?" Zack asked, puzzled. Today was the first day he had ever trained with this girl, let alone meet her. But she shook her head.

"Well, I suppose I had a dream about you. You weren't the primary focus. But you were in someone's future." She replied. Zack raised his eyebrows.

"Oh? And what will I do in person's future?" He asked. The girl turned upside down in her seat.

"You sure you want to know?" She asked.

"We've gone over this." Zack said, leaning to look the girl in the face. The girl giggled.

"So we have. Okay. You're gonna marry my best friend." The girl said, sitting upright. Zack sat there with his jaw hung low.

"Wait, what, when?" He managed after a minute. She laughed at him.

"How old are you now?" She asked, standing.

"Sixteen." Zack answered slowly. The girl giggled once more and then very slowly said,

"In two years, you're gonna, marry, my," She paused to point at herself, "best friend."

"Kimberlynne. Let's go." The girl looked up to find Genesis and smiled. She turned to a dumbstruck Zack.

"Be sure to send me an invitation, okay?" She smiled and ran off to Genesis. Zack stood and tried to stop her, but sighed and gave up, looking around the room.

"Be sure to send me an invitation too." Zack jumped to Angeal's voice, to find him standing right next to him. Zack gave him a look.

"You don't actually believe her do you? I haven't even met her best friend, how the hell am I supposed to marry her in two years?" Zack said. Angeal shook his head.

"She has made predictions before, and they've been true. I wouldn't be surprised if this one was too." Angeal started to walk away, breaking into a loud laughter.

"Hey! You don't believe her either!" Zack shouted after him, before running to catch up.

Xx

"I've recommended you for 1st." Angeal said, Snow instantly recognized this memory from before. Zack was accepting a mission. Zack laughed, overjoyed and hugged Angeal.

"Angeal! I love you man! Ang-!" He exclaimed while Angeal pushed him off.

"Don't make me regret this Zack." Angeal said, shooting Zack a small smile.

Xx

Snow literally blinked before he was now in the woods, looking around aimlessly as Angeal walked ahead, Zack trailing behind.

"So Angeal, what's the deal with 'dumbapples?'" Zack asked. Angeal turned.

"The official name is Banora White. The trees bear fruit at random times during the year. Because of that, the townspeople affectionately call them 'dumbapples'" Angeal said.

"The local farms had plenty of them to spare." He continued.

"Oh, really? So you stole them." Zack countered.

"We were poor, Zack." Angeal said.

"Nice excuse!" Zack retorted.

"But even then, I had my honor. The largest Banora White tree grew on a wealthy man's estate. It was rumored that those apples tasted the best. But I never stole from that tree, because the wealthy man's son was my friend." Angeal recounted. Zack strolled up to him.

"If he was a friend, you should have just asked for some!" He said. Angeal held up his hand.

"Honor can be quite a burden at times." He said. Zack paused a moment, looking at Angeal.

"…And, what exactly does this have to do with me?" He asked. Angeal crossed his arms.

"No story is not worth hearing." Angeal wisely said, before he turned away and started to walk, laughing.

"What? That's it?" Zack said, confused, before breaking into a run to catch up to him. "Yeah, well, thanks a lot!"

Xx

Zack was crouched down next to Angeal behind some bushes.

"B Unit will set off an explosion. That's our cue." Angeal told him.

"The diversion will allow us to infiltrate." Zack added. Angeal nodded and said,

"Right. I'll set the bomb inside the fortress. You'll charge the front gate, and…"

"Uh-huh, and? And? And? And? Zack said interrupting.

"Indulge yourself." Angeal said. Zack looked excited.

"You got it! That's what I do best." Zack stood, clearly waiting in anticipation. "Come on, B Unit…" Angeal took his massive sword off his back and placed his forehead on it, before returning it to his back. Zack crouched back down.

"You know, I've never actually seen you use that. Don't you think it's sort of a waste?" Zack asked.

"Use brings about wear…tear… and rust. And that's a real waste." Angeal said.

"You're serious, aren't you?" Zack asked shooting him a look.

"Yeah. I can be pretty cheap." Angeal said smiling.

"Yeah, no kidding…"

Xx

"Yo! Don't fall too far behind!" Zack shouted to Tseng and the other recruit. Cloud had almost appeared to fallen asleep standing up before he realized that the memory was about him.

"At least someone's keeping up." Zack said to the recruit next to him.

"Well, I'm a country boy too." Cloud responded from under his helmet.

"From where?" Zack asked.

"Nibelheim." Cloud answered. Zack broke into laughter.

"How about you?" Cloud interrupted Zack's fit of laughter. Zack turned to him.

"Me? Gongaga." Zack said. Cloud let out a chuckle.

"Hey, what's so funny about that! You know Gongaga?" Zack said defensively.

"No, but such a backwater name." Cloud said.

"Ditto Nibelheim." Zack countered.

"Like you've been there." Cloud shot back.

"I haven't, but there's a reactor there, right?" Zack said as Cloud nodded, "A mako reactor outside Midgar usually means,"

"Nothing else out there." Both boys said in unison. They broke into laughter.

"Good news, Tseng! Me and…." Zack trailed off to look at Cloud. He pulled off his helmet and said,

"Cloud."

"Me and Cloud here are both backwater experts. Oh yeah!" Zack said pumping his fists.

Xx

"So, Cloud, what did you do for fun in Nibelheim? Zack asked at the campfire. The sun was setting, meaning it was earlier than the previous memory of Cloud's story of Claire and his fight.

"Not much. I had to work a lot. When I was little I almost blew up the school. That was fun." Cloud said, shrugging. Zack shot him a look, then smiled.

"Yeah, sounds like it. But what could we do now? It's not Tseng wants to go any farther today." Zack said, sighing.

"We could always rob a local bank." Cloud said, poking the fire with a stick.

"That's an idea." Zack chuckled, "A Shinra recruit and a SOLDIER operative robbing a bank. We'll make the headline for sure."

"Hey you asked, I gave an idea." Cloud said, sitting back. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while.

"Hey, Cloud, Let me ask you something." Zack said, looking at him. Cloud looked up.

"What is it?" He said.

"Do you, believe in love at first sight?" Zack said hesitantly.

"I'm sorry, Zack. I don't roll that way." Cloud said jokingly.

"Not you, you jackass. I meant in general." Zack said shaking his head.

"What brought this on?" Cloud said. Leaning back some more.

"I was just thinking about something that I probably shouldn't be worrying about." Zack said.

"No, I don't believe in love at first sight. I believe you have attraction to someone, and you know you want to spend the rest of your life with that person, so you charge headfirst into a relationship." Cloud answered. After a moment, he said impatiently,

"You know, you started a story, you're expected to finish it."

"Oh alright, when I was back in SOLDIER Headquarters, I once trained with this girl. She was fast, broke my jaw a couple times. I was always on defense. I ending up winning without having to land one hit since she wore herself out. But afterwards, she told me she was psychic and I would be married in two years." Zack finished, falling over into a lying position.

"At first I didn't believe her. But I just think about it at random times. I don't know why." He said after a moment.

"Well, I only believed one psychic, because I saw firsthand her predictions were right, but she died a while back." Cloud said, "Maybe she's right, maybe she's wrong. I wouldn't rush anything just because a physic said something."

"Yeah, you're right. Hey Cloud, what's your family like?"

Xx


	11. Chapter Ten Burden To Bear

X- Hi! Sorry for the terribly long period of time before another update. Haha. Oopsies. Ah well, Reviews make me warm and fuzzy inside! :D

_**Chapter 10- Burden To Bear**_

Zack sat back, after successfully lighting a fire. Snow blinked as Claire was now the one with him, not Cloud. Had it really been that soon that he had met Lightning? Zack let out a sigh as he looked over at Claire.

"You alright there?" He asked, nodding to her knee. She simply nodded back. "We should probably change the bandages, if that's alright with you." He said, crawling over to her. She simply nodded and held her leg out for him. He carefully started to peel back the bandages he had quickly put on the girl to aid her wound. The gash was no longer the sickening yellow and was now a bright red. I looked like it stung, but Claire showed no emotion to it. She just gazed at the fire. Zack pulled a clean bandage out and began to wrap the wound more effectively then last time.

"Listen," Claire said as Zack wrapped her leg. "I'm sorry about the way I've been treating you." Zack looked up from her knee and smiled lightly.

"It's alright. Don't worry about it." He said beginning to work on her leg again. Claire shook her head.

"It's not alright. I've been a bitch. And I'm sorry to tell you, but I'm probably just gonna be a bitch the whole time. I'm sorry. I don't know why, but I lash out at people often." She said quietly.

"What I think, is that you don't really know how to deal with this newfound pain, of the loss of your mother, and you react in the ways you do because all the built up emotion just comes out at once." Zack said, finishing tying the bandage. Claire scoffed, but didn't say anything.

"You're too nice for your own good." She said after a while. Zack chuckled.

"Terribly sorry about that." He said leaning back. Claire quietly crawled next to him, and sat by the fire. She buried her head in her knees and said nothing.

"Bet you're sorry about meeting me." She mumbled after a minute. Zack looked at her.

"I'm not sorry about meeting you; however I'm sorry we had to meet the way we did. I would say the memory is bittersweet." Zack said. Claire looked up from her knees, then shook her head and let out a dark laugh.

"I don't understand you at all." Claire said.

"Well, you don't have to." Zack said. There was another brief pause between the two.

"You know, a good friend of mine, his name was Angeal, he told me something one time. I didn't understand it, but now I think I do. He told me 'Men not cry for themselves, but for their comrades.' I know you're not a man, but, what I'm trying to say is, it's alright to cry for someone when they die." Zack said. Claire's lip quivered, but nothing was said. She furiously wiped her eyes and shook her head. She lies down next to the fire and closed her eyes. Zack sighed and repeated the action.

It didn't take long for Claire to crawl over to Zack and snuggle close.

Xx

Zack walked slightly ahead of Claire, since his legs were considerably longer than hers. She had to speed up a couple times when she fell behind. Zack would realize that Claire would struggle to keep up, and would take breaks so that she would be forced to do so herself. She never did like to admit weakness. He stopped, and she bumped into his back, unaware because her head had been lowered.

"Wanna take a break, or wait until we get into town?" Zack said turning to her.

"How much longer?" She murmured.

"About 10 more minutes. See?" He paused to point down off the ledge. In the distance, a small town could be seen. Claire shook her head. He paused to look down the ledge. "Looks like we can jump down from here." He murmured, starting to jump down the smaller ledges. He paused, then turned, and held his arms out.

"Jump. It's okay, I'll catch you." Zack said. Claire hesitantly started to edge her way down, then leaped and let out a yelp. Zack caught her easily and set her down next to him. They repeated the process for the next part the ledge, only Zack lost his footing and they went crashing into the ground. Claire slowly started to get up off of him proceeding to call him a "klutz"., before she fell back down onto his chest. Zack sat up with her cradled in his arms.

"You sure you don't wanna take that break?" Zack murmured softly. Claire shivered.

"It's too cold out here." She managed through clenched teeth. Zack gently pressed his hand to her forehead.

"Looks like it'll be cold to you wherever you are with that fever of yours." He said quietly. Claire slowly wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Carry me." She murmured snuggling her face into the crook of his neck. Zack's face matched Claire's hair as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Wha-what are you doing Claire?" He asked and looked down to her face. She was already fast asleep her mouth open slightly. Zack let out a sigh, then a chuckle, as he gently gripped her thighs and got up. He gently boosted her up to get a better hold of her. Her eyes fluttered open momentarily, then fluttered back closed as she snuggled closer to Zack.

Xx

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Claire asked as they walked along a path. Zack gave her a shocked expression and smiled lightly.

"No, but my mother took in some orphans off the street until she found them good homes. You could say she was a foster mother, I guess. I was never really alone, but they were always younger or older than me, so I never really talked t them. You are Cloud seem pretty tight." Zack said. Claire smiled brightly.

"Yeah, we were the blue-eyed terror of Nibelheim." Zack stopped walking.

"I think that's the first time you've smiled this whole time." Zack said smiling himself. Claire looked down shyly.

"You should do it more often." Zack said, starting to walk again. Claire looked up and smiled lightly.

"Okay."

Xx

Zack gently laid Claire down into a hotel bed, and tucked her in. She was asleep, her breathing even. He smiled lightly before going to leave.

"Where are you going?" Claire said from the bed. Zack turned around.

"Oh. I thought you were asleep." Zack said lightly walking back to her. Claire looked drowsily at him.

"You're leaving me?" Claire said, pulling his arm.

"I'm only getting some supplies since we have to stay in town a little longer. I'll come right back." Zack said, allowing Claire to pull him down onto the bed.

"Don't go." She whined, trying to pull him closer. Zack chuckled.

"Just last week you would've loved it if I left." He murmured brushing a stray strand of hair away from her face.

"You can leave and come back when I'm asleep. Claire mumbled, pulling him even closer to her.

"Baby girl," Zack murmured back, trying to gently pry her hands off his arm. Claire's eyes opened a little more.

"If I'm a baby girl, you're a SOLDIER boy." She said as they both laughed a little. "Just until I fall asleep, please." Zack sighed and crawled into the bed with her.

"Okay, you win." He said.

Xx

"Wait." Zack said, pulling Claire's arm. He pulled her close to him and kissed her. Claire blinked before closing her eyes and wrapping her arms and Zack's neck.

Xx

Claire lay down close to the fire, using her arm as a pillow. Zack smiled lightly before pulling a blanket he had bought in the town before hand and draped it over her. She snuggled into it and smiled.

Xx

"Zack?" A quiet voice mumbled through the dark. Zack's eyes snapped open and looked up. He groggily rubbed his eyes as he said,  
"What is it Claire?" Claire took small steps toward Zack now that she had been recognized.

"Can I sleep in here for tonight?" She mumbled back, now standing in front of Zack. He looked up from his pillow.

"Yeah" He said, patting the other side of the bed. She quietly obeyed and crawled into the space next to him. He turned and gently covered her with the blanket. He lies back down comfortably and let out a content sigh.

"Zack?" Claire whimpered. Zack opened one eye.

"What's up?" He said lifting his head off the pillow. She sniffled.

"I can't sleep without you." She whimpered. Zack blinked.

"What do you mean? He whispered quietly turning around and pulling her into an embrace to comfort her.

"I've tried and tried, but I can't sleep without being right next to you. I feel… safe with you." She said, resting her head on his chest. Zack chuckled.

"You're always safe with me baby girl." He said playing with a strand of pink hair. She let out a small giggle and snuggled closer to him. There was a brief, comfortable silence between the two.

"To be honest, I can sleep without you right next to me either. I keep worrying about you, but I found if I have you right next to me, I know you're safe, and I can sleep." Zack said looking at Claire's head. When she looked up, she was smiling.

"You worry about me?" She asked. Zack nodded.

"E very second of every day." He mumbled, kissing her forehead.

"We're quite the dysfunctional couple." Claire giggled. Zack chuckled.

"Yes we are. And now we live together. This should be fun." They both laughed quietly.

Xx

It was pitch black outside as Zack stumbled into his home, coming straight from work. He was drenched in sweat in mud. He grunted irritably as he kicked his boots off and headed for the downstairs shower. He had one upstairs, but he couldn't stand the dirt any longer. Once done, he wrapped a towel around his waist and started to head upstairs. Claire was holding a pillow, leaning against his door, shivering. Zack blinked.

"Claire? What are you doing?" He asked quietly. Her head snapped up and her frightened azure eyes looked up to meet his mako enhanced ones.

"Zack, Um, I can go, I'm sorry-" She started to get up.

"No wait, just let me get changed." Zack said, holding onto her wrist. He let go and changed quickly, before allowing the door to open. She had waited against the other wall, crawling back into her ball with the pillow in hand. Zack sighed and gently picked her up and carried into her room.

"What's wrong baby girl?" Zack asked quietly as he laid her down into the side of the bed she liked.

"Nightmare." She whispered watching him climb into the bed next to her. Zack gently pulled her closer to him and sighed lightly.

"What was the nightmare about sweetheart?" He murmured quietly.

"You died." She said shakily. Zack chuckled quietly.

"Baby girl, I'm not going anywhere." He said ruffling her hair affectionately. She looked up him through bleary eyes.

"Really?" She asked. Zack nodded.

"I'll never leave you baby girl. Even when you dump me and call a restraining order on me." She smiled happily and snuggled closer to him.

"Why would I call a restraining order on you?"

Xx

It was peaceful and quiet as Claire and Zack were lying on the couch. Claire had fallen asleep once more, while Zack played the newly placed ring on Claire's finger.

Serah came crashing into the room, groaning as she flung her backpack to the other side of the room and plopped herself on the other couch, turning the television on in the process. After she got situated, she realized Zack was smiling at her, amused at the scene she had just caused. Serah giggled and waved, to which Zack returned the gesture. It was quiet between the two for a while after that.

"You know, you two cuddle a lot." Serah commented after the show ended and changed to a new. Zack chuckled in response.

"I know. Never knew I was clingy until I met your sister. I don't think she minds though." He said, gently ruffling Claire's hair. Serah laughed.

"I don't think you are, I think Claire is the clingy one. This is odd for her too." She said looking at her sister sadly, before her regular happy smile returned to her face. Zack just shook his head and let out another chuckle.

Xx

"Haha, I was right bitch. And you doubted me. I feel offended." Zack turned to see Kimberlynne walking into the living room and plopping down next to him. Zack gave her a look.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He said as she took the remote from him and changed the channel.

"Think Spiky. Think. There's got to be a brain somewhere in that thick skull of yours." She said, changing the channel once more. A look of dawning appeared on Zack's face.

"Oh you were right, weren't you? I can't believe I never linked the two!" Zack exclaimed, jumping off the couch and pointing at Kimberlynne.

"Yes. Now never doubt my wonderfully magically powers again stupid." She said, taking a bite of a sandwich she had come in with.

Xx

The bacon sizzled as it dropped into the pan Zack had placed on the stovetop. He placed piece by piece into the pan, as Serah did her homework at the kitchen table.

"Why are you bacon in the middle of the afternoon?" Serah asked as she looked up from a worksheet.

"I'm bribing your sister into the kitchen." Zack responded simply taking a bite out of an extra crispy piece, that was extremely close to looking burnt instead.

"Why?" Serah asked, completely confused.

"Because, you know how the doctor said she should probably be bigger? Well, if something good smelling is cooking, Claire comes in like she hasn't been fed in weeks. So I figured I'd make some bacon." Zack said, placing even more bacon into the pan, now that the previous had been cooked. Serah laughed in response.

After a couple moments of silence between the two, Claire came in, her belly slightly rounded.

"Is that bacon?" She asked quietly. Zack winked at Serah before handing the plate he had been eating off of to Claire.

"You want something else with that baby girl? I don't think a plate full of bacon will be good for you." Zack said, opening the fridge.

"You were going to." Claire snapped, taking the plate into another room. Zack chuckled softly, placing the used pan into the sink. Serah put her pencil down at looked at Zack.

"One day, I'm going to find a husband like you." She said softly. Zack turned at stared back at her.

"What do you mean?" Zack asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I mean, you treat Claire really good, and you don't get irritated at her easily, even though she does to you." Serah said, looking down at her worksheet. Zack smiled and sat down in the chair opposite the girl.

"That means a lot to me, Serah. I love your sister. And you and Cloud, are now my sister and brother too. But don't go look for a guy like me, because I'll pound his face in. I'm nothing but trouble." Zack smiled brightly and leaned back into his chair.

Xx

A small boy bounded into the kitchen, grabbing onto his father's pants as he opened the door. Zack picked Angeal up and smiled, his eyes tired from a long day of work.

"Daddy!" The small boy cried and latched around Zack's neck. Zack chuckled returning the hug and setting him back down onto the floor, ruffling his hair in the process.

"Hey Angeal," He said.

"E seccat oui! " The boy shouted, pulling his father's arm and led him into another room.

Xx


	12. Chapter Eleven Eyes The Color Of The Sky

**X Sorry for the delay! After this chapter, no more memories. No, the story is not finished.**

**X Reviews make me so hapeh inside :D**

_**Chapter 11- Eyes the Color of the Sky**_

__Zack and Claire stopped before a large pack of beasts in the way. Zack drew the buster sword, as Claire drew out the blazefire saber.

"Okay, Claire. Show me what I taught you." Zack said, motioning his head to the beast. She gave him a small nod, before running straight ahead and attacking, and black flipping in the air gracefully after a series of launches. She easily defeated one. Zack smiled at how she was no longer the defenseless girl he first met in burned remains of a house in Nibelheim, as she gracefully destroyed her enemy quickly and effectively. Admiring his handy work, he joined the fight.

Xx

"You know, you sure sleep a lot." Zack commented as Claire climbed up into his lap and buried her face into the crook of his neck. "Not that I'm complaining." He murmured. Claire smiled lightly.

"It's to make sure I'm always close to you." She murmured back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Baby girl, all you have to do is give a tug on my leash and I'll come running." Zack said, wrapping his own arms around her waist.

"Oh so now I have you on a leash?" She giggled. Zack let out a laugh and spoke softly,

"Oh sweetheart you have me thoroughly whipped with that leash." Claire smiled and snuggled closer.

"Good."

Xx

__The glyph stopped, and the fayth disappeared. Lightning smiled lightly at Angeal, who had latched onto her leg, frightened by the glyph. She ruffled his hair affectionately whispering, "It's okay." The little boy looked up at his mother, and back at the glyph on the wall.

"Zicd y sphere?" He asked, looking back up at his mother. She shook her head.

"Glyph. And now's not the time for Al Bhed. You know how to speak Yevonite." She answered.

"Sorry Momma." He said, slowly letting go of her leg. She nodded and told him it was okay again, before starting to walk again. Sazh gave Lightning a look.

"Uh, what now?" He said, and scratched his head.

"We finish walking through the Omega Ruins." Kimberlynne said simply, giving Sazh a wink. He blinked in response to which she rolled her eyes at. Noctis followed Kimberlynne closely, after slaying a stray large lizard. The remainder of the group followed suit.

"Turkey!" Kimberlynne shouted from up ahead. An 'umph' was heard signaling Kimberlynne had just glomped whoever was up ahead. When everyone caught up, a red-headed man was just standing up and pulling Kimberlynne off himself, and dusting off his suit.

"Sometimes you make me regret saving your ass." He muttered before looking up and her and smirked lightly.

"Aww, no you don't. The fact you came all the way here to see me means something." She said, punching him lightly. Reno sighed.

"I found the thing you wanted me to. It's at the moonflow. The airship is up ahead." He said, pointing to the assumed direction of the airship. Kimberlynne patted his head.

"You done good Turkey." She said walking ahead. The man gave a nod towards Cloud, who just walked by him. Yuffie bounded up towards him.

"I believe you owe me some materia, Reno." She said, hands on her hips. Reno gave her a look.

"Um, I believe you owe me an apology for _stealing_ _my _materia."

Xx

As promised, an airship was waiting for the large group at the end of the Omega Ruins. As they boarded, Cid was greeted with numerous things in Al Bhed.

"I have to handle this. Someone else has to fly this damn thing." Cid grunted, walking away. Sazh raised his hand a little.

"I think I can fly this ship. Just need a moment to familiarize myself with the controls." Sazh said leading Dajh to the bridge.

"I'll help you!" Kimberlynne volunteered, running after him. Lightning shook her head, and started leading her own children to the cabin.

Xx

It was nightfall as the airship reached the Moonflow. Pyreflies acted as shooting stars and landed into the water. Lightning smiled lightly and breathed in the air. Angeal, Averia, Kimberlynne, Noctis, Cloud, Serah, Vanille, and Snow were the ones who joined her, everyone else decided to stay on ship.

"The Moonflow was always my favorite place to go at night when I was little." She murmured lightly to her own children. "I used to drive Grandma Averia nuts when we were in Bikanel." She said a little louder. The small girl looked up at her mother when she realized that she was in fact talking about her namesake.

"Mommy, was Grandma Averia as pretty as you?" She asked, her large eyes looking up into her mother's face. Lightning looked down at the child and smiled.

"Grandma Averia was even prettier than me. That's why I named her after you. So you could grow up just as pretty and smart as her." She said, ruffling the small girl's hair.

"Mommy, why is my name Angeal?" The little boy piped in from his seat near a moonlily. Lightning closed her eyes.

"Your Daddy named you. He had a very close friend whose name was Angeal. Daddy wanted you to be as strong and wise as his friend." Lightning said, smiling down at the boy as his face lit up.

Kimberlynne and Noctis came back down from a path, as everyone but Cloud seemed shocked that the two had even left.

"Heeya Claire, we need you to come this way. Just you this time. Cloud watch her kids for her, will ya?" Kimberlynne said, pulling Lightning back down the path. Cloud just shook his head.

"Uncle Cloud, where are Auntie Kimber and Uncle Noct taking Mommy?" Averia said, pulling on the material on Cloud's leg.

"I dunno, sweetheart, but I think it's time for bed."

Xx

"Well, activate it." Kimberlynne said, pushing Lightning close to yet another glyph. Lightning shook her head.

"You heard what the fayth said was next." She said. Kimberlynne groaned.

"If you don't activate it, I'll hold you down and have Princey activate it and make you see it anyway, so pick your poison." She said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Better start chasing me then." Lightning said and turned to bolt. Before she could, however, Kimberlynne tackled her to the ground and Noctis slammed his hand onto the glyph.

Xx

"Where is Angeal?" A silver-haired man asked Zack from the ground, close to Genesis copies.

"I thought he was fighting around here…." Zack trailed off.

"Humph. So he's gone too." The other man said. Zack turned around.

"What?" He asked bewildered. "Wait, what does that mean?" The man stood up.

"It means Angeal has betrayed us as well." The man said, his back facing Zack.

"No way!" Zack shouted angrily."I know what kind of guy Angeal is. And he'd never do that!" the man turned around to face Zack."Angeal wouldn't betray us! Never!" Zack yelled.

Xx

Zack stood at the doorway of a house. Beneath him, a slightly older woman lie dead on the ground. Zack turned and found Angeal behind him.

"What the hell did you do Angeal?" Zack shouted grabbing him by the collar and shoving him up a wall, then punch him roughly outside the house.

"Is that… Is that your idea of honor?" Zack shouted. Angeal started to slowly get up.

"My mother… could not continue to live. And neither can the son." He said, fully standing up.

"What are you talking about? What's going on here?"

Xx

"Project G gave birth to the man we know as Genesis." The silver-haired man from before sated.

"Project G…." Zack repeated.

"Project Genesis." The man said. "Contrary to this report, Genesis showed clear signs of change." He continued.

"Degrading?" Zack asked.

"Not only that." The man answered.

"Copies?" Zack asked further. The man nodded slightly.

"Abominations." The man said. The sloppy mess of a man came down the stairway.

"S-Sephiroth?" The man stuttered.

"Hollander. I thought I'd find you here." Sephiroth greeted curtly.

"The degradation process, only I can stop it." Hollander stated matter-of-factly. Genesis floated down in front of Hollander.

Xx

Hollander stumbled and Zack just followed him.

"Hollander, do you understand what you're doing?" As Hollander passed a corner, the Buster Sword came out, blocking Zack's path. Hollander ran off.

"Working for Hollander now?" Zack asked bluntly. He turned to Angeal. "What is you're after?" He asked.

"World domination." Angeal answered.

"That's not even funny, man." Zack countered.

How about… revenge?" Angeal replied, pulling the Buster sword away and started to walk.

"For what? Angeal!" Zack yelled. Angeal's wing flew out. "Whoa."

"I've become… a monster. A monster's objective usually is world domination or revenge." Angeal said.

"You're wrong, those aren't the wings of a monster." Zack said walking towards Angeal.

"Well then, what are they?" Angeal asked. A feather floated down into Zack's hand as he said, "Angel's wings."

"I see. Then what should an angel fight for, Zack? What do angels dream of?" Angeal shouted. A moment of silence surrounded the two before Angeal placed the Buster sword down and started to walk toward Zack. "Angeal," Zack muttered.

"Angels dream of one thing." Angeal said.

"Please tell me." Zack said, walking backwards.

"To be Human." Angeal whispered, and proceeded to punch Zack in the gut and send him flying. Zack stood slowly.

"Defend yourself!" Angeal shouted. Zack's only response was a goofy grin and a shake of his head. Angeal sent him flying once more.

Xx

Angeal stood in the middle of the room when Zack walked in.

"It should have been me… I should've dealt with Genesis." Angeal said, acknowledging Zack's presence.

"Yeah, then why did you send me?" Zack asked. Angeal turned and faced Zack, pointing his sword at him and said, "To prepare you for your next fight."

"Have you lost it?" Zack muttered. Angeal swung at him. "Stop it!" Zack shouted.

"Someone's waiting for you, no?" Angeal asked. Zack slowly pulled his own sword off of his back. "Angeal, don't do this." Zack said looking at him sadly. The two swung at each other, blocking both swords' paths.

"Very good, Angeal." Came Hollander's voice as he walked in. "It is time to exact vengeance on our family suffering!"

"Family?" Zack asked Angeal. "No! My father is dead!" Angeal shouted, ignoring Zack and wrenching his sword free.

"Fine the do it for your mother." Hollander said.

"My mother's shame made her take her own life." Angeal spat back.

"Shame? How terribly misguided! She should have been proud, proud that she was the namesake of our experiment. 'Project G' or should I say 'Project Gillian'." Angeal immediately wrapped his hand around Hollander's neck.

"Don't say her name!" He spat. Hollander's reached for Angeal's hand.

"Gillian, the woman implanted with Jenova cells. Genesis, who had her genes mapped onto him during the fetal stage. Yes, Genesis was a failure, I'll admit it. But you, Angeal, You were actually bred inside Gillian's body. You, you are perfection." Angeal shoved him.

"Zack, I am perfect. A perfect… monster." He turned to face Zack. "My cells can absorb genetic traits and pass them along to others." Angeal said. Hollander rose.

"A two-way conduit, Jenova's power has passed onto you completely." He said. Angeal looked at him, and then turned away.

"Zack, do you remember what I said? About our enemy being all that creates suffering?" Angeal said, walking by him.

"Yeah, but you're not one of them." Came Zack's answer.

"But I created my own suffering. Zack, let me show you." Angeal said. Zack turned slowly to Angeal.

"Stop it! You don't know what you're doing!" Hollander shouted. A mob of monster came from nowhere.

"Damn at least one sample!" Hollander shouted attempted to pull some of Angeal's hair. He was roughly shoved back by said man. The monsters raced forward. "Angeal!" Zack shouted. The monster merged with Angeal and created a monster Angeal. Hollander sped away. The monster struck, and a gash appeared on Zack's cheek.

"Angeal, what happened to honor?" Zack asked, more to himself.

Xx

Zack was now standing over Angeal, who was slowly dying. Zack was on the verge of crying.

"Zack, you have my thanks." Angeal said, smiling up at him. Zack knelt down to him.

"This is for you." Angeal held up the Buster Sword. Zack looked at it, before looking down at Angeal, who nodded. Zack began to cry. He took the Buster sword with both hands.

"Protect your honor, always." Angeal spoke his last words, before smiling and then dying. An audible gasp came out of Zack before he continued to cry. He stood, before holding the Buster sword before him. Angeal's voice could be heard.

"Embrace your dreams. If you want to be a hero you need to have dreams, and honor." Rain poured down.

Xx

Zack raced out of the burning inn, and was surrounded by building engulfed in flames. He immediately raced to find Cloud. Instead, he found Sephiroth.

"I'm coming to get you." The man stated, and started walking into the flames.

Xx

Zack sighed and lay onto his back. Closing his eyes, he waited for Claire's head to rest on his stomach. After about twenty minutes, he felt the light weight of her head. Unconsciously, he idly ran his hand through Claire's soft pink tresses. Claire immediately recoiled, backing and turning away from him. Zack sat up, confused.

"Claire?" He called to her, but he received no answer. Zack had no idea what came over him, but he became distressed at Claire's actions. He knew he enjoyed that Claire cuddled close to him, but he didn't know he would react so pathetically. He crawled over to her, trying to envelop her into an embrace. She immediately recoiled once more and went back to her original spot near the fire. Zack was heartbroken.

Zack blinked. He wasn't heartbroken. He had only met Claire a couple of days ago. He kept repeating that in his head, but it didn't work.

Xx

Zack stumbled into his home. He hated to work overtime, but it was necessary to get the job done that day he wanted to get paid at all. He pulled off his boots and grunted. At least there wasn't much dirty work, so he wasn't completely drenched in mud. Serah sheepishly rounded the corner, sniffling.

"Cloud? Oh Zack." She said quietly. Zack looked at her closely.

"Cloud's not home yet? Hmm, guess he had to work overtime too. What's the matter Serah?" Zack said, walking slowly over to his soon-to-be sister-in-law. Serah shook her head. Zack crouched down eye level to her and rested his hand on her shoulders lightly.

"Serah, you know you can tell me anything." He said quietly, trying to coax what was wrong out of her. She shook her head again, but this time wrapped her arms his neck and sobbed. Zack, utterly confused, stuck to rubbing her back, trying to comfort her. She mumbled something in his shoulder.

"Serah, I can't hear you sweetheart," Zack said, attempting to be soothing. Serah backed away slowly, trying to calm herself enough to speak.

"Claire's been drinking, Zack! A lot! My health teacher told me today that was really bad, and I didn't know! She just gets giggly, I didn't know!" Serah wailed. Zack, getting over his initial shock out his hands on Serah's shoulders once more.

"Serah, how long has Claire been drinking?" Zack asked softly. She sniffled.

"A while before you found her, she told me not to tell Cloud, so I didn't. I didn't know what she was really doing, and Mom couldn't really do anything, she was asleep all the time. She started up again a little while ago." Serah broke back into wails and clung back onto to him. He tried to sooth her again.

"It's okay Serah, you didn't know. But the important thing is you do know and you told me. So you don't need to worry anymore, okay? I'm going to make sure Claire stops, okay?" He said, lightly patting her shoulder. Serah nodded slowly.

"Thank you, Zack." She whispered, adding a sniffle at the end.

Xx

"Drinking Claire? Really? Could I really be that bad?" Zack said as Claire pathetically tried to hide the bottle behind her back. Luckily, the girl was still sober.

"Oh what do you know? Why does it automatically have to be something about you?" She spat back and attempted to take a swig from the bottle. Zack immediately grabbed the bottle and threw it against the wall, breaking the glass. She glared at him.

"What was that for?" She yelled.

"You're underage!" Zack shouted back.

"That doesn't have to do with anything!" Claire rebutted. Zack shook his head.

"It has everything to do with this! Drinking is never the answer! You're scaring the shit out of Serah! You need to stop this!" He said in a scolding tone, but not as angry as before.

"It's not just easy as stopping because Serah wants me too, I haven't done anything bad to her when I'm drunk, so what's the problem?" Claire yelled back.

"Claire! This is a huge problem in itself! You don't need alcohol; Cloud and I are here for you. You can't just drink yourself into oblivion and expect to feel better!" Zack shouted.

"It does make me feel better! And you and Cloud are just too damn busy with work, so why bother you?" Claire seethed.

"Claire! I always have time for you, and so does Cloud! Wait a minute, are you accusing me of cheating?" Zack looked at her incredulously. Claire didn't say anything and looked towards the ground. Zack's jaw dropped.

"I can't believe you would accuse me of that!" She shook her head.

"You know what? I'm not a kid, I don't need this." She said, pulling the ring off her finger and throwing it at the ground, before storming out of the room. Zack immediately picked the ring up and chased after her.

"Claire!" He shouted racing down the stairway. When he made it down, Claire was already out the kitchen door pass Cloud. Cloud took one look at the ring in Zack's hand before shouting, "Claire Farron! You better get your ass back here this instant!" Zack made an attempt to go pass Cloud, but Cloud put his hand up.

"Let me talk to her."

Xx

"She told me what happened," Cloud said after a moment of silence. Zack was pathetically slumped against a wall in his room, playing with the ring. Zack looked up at this.

"Everything?" He asked. Cloud gave a simple nod. Another moment of silence, Cloud spoke up.

"I'm not going to make excuses for her, but I will tell you the guys I didn't throw out usually ended up cheating on her or leaving her for another girl. She's not used to the other party being faithful as well. And as for us having no time, that's my fault. I did make it seem back in Nibelheim I didn't have time for her. I didn't step back and realize she was hurting herself." Cloud shook his head.

"She's talking to Serah now," Cloud paused and just left Zack's room. Zack just slumped more into his corner.

Xx

He heard his door open, but he did not move. The soft footsteps towards him signaled it was either Claire or Serah. The girl gently sat down next to him, before her dainty hands reached over and tried to slam food into Zack's mouth. He grunted, but opened his mouth to allow what he recognized to be Claire's hand push food past his lips. His favorites. He chewed and swallowed, and before Claire could push more into him he sat up and brought her into an embrace.

"I would never cheat on you, Baby girl." He murmured into her hair. The girl broke into tears and wrapped her arms around her neck.

"I'm so sorry," She sobbed out, and repeated it many times until Zack cupped her face in his hands.

"It's okay Baby Girl, but I'm not going to stop forcing you into stopping drinking." He said, lightly pressing kisses to her forehead. The girl broke into tears once more.

"But I don't think I can stop!" she sobbed.

"You can, I know you can, I'll be here for you."

Xx

Zack was summoned by a heavily drunk Claire. He sighed and cupped her face in his hands.

"What did I tell you about drinking?" Zack lightly scolded, as the pink-haired girl let out a giggle and wrapped her arms sloppily around his neck.

"Zack! You didn't die! We have to go find Angeal too; he's missed you so much." Claire said emphasizing the 'so much' with light punches to Zack's chest.

"You're tanked, aren't you?" Zack murmured, disappointed.

Serah decided to make her appearance.

"Light! I'm home! I want you to meet someone!" She said from the kitchen and murmured a "wait here" to her guest and Zack thanked her in his head. As soon as Serah came into the living room, she dropped her bag. Regaining her composure, she said,

"Uh Snow, you'll have to meet her another time." And ushered whoever was out there out of the house.

"How," She began.

"Aeon. Don't tell Claire if she forgets this. She won't be able to summon me again if you do." Zack hoisted a half-conscious Claire onto his shoulder and placed her gently in the couch. "You won't remember this, will you?" Zack murmured softly. Out of his pocket, he pulled a small Buster Sword and showed it to Serah, before putting it in a giggling Claire's hand.

"Make sure she always has that with her. I'm going to give her an incorrect memory about it. And dump all the alcohol you find in the sink." He said leaning down to Claire's face while talking to a dazed Serah, and gently placing glowing fingertips to her forehead.

"Please don't ever forget me Baby girl."


	13. Chapter Twelve A Flower Blooming

_**X Good morning :D I'll be able to update more often now. You see, my computer is up in the attic and I literally couldn't use it without it overheating it's so hot up there. And the little girl I babysit almost every other day has cancer and it's really bad, so I've been distracted. Well now I can because my mother got a new laptop I'm free to use when she's not and I need a distraction. Huzah!**_

_**X I've had many people ask me if Zack is going to come back like Tidus did in FFX. NO HE'S NOT. I promise. **_

_Chapter 12- A Flower Blooming in the Slums_

Cloud had brought out mats, for those who had wanted to sleep out by the Moonflow. Angeal and Averia had taken just one mat to themselves and fell asleep almost instantly. Serah had convinced Snow to come and sleep outside as well.

"See Snow! There's another one!" Serah cried, pointing to pyreflies acting as shooting stars. Snow smiled and nodded. This was so much better than fireworks. They didn't make a huge boom, and it was oddly comforting.

"The Moonflow's pyreflies are said to feed on positive memories, making you calmer," Serah said."That's why wars aren't fought here. It's shared land. Everyone usually gets along here."

"You usually have to have a large stick up your ass, like Spikes here for example."Cid said, taking a drag off his cigarette. Cloud shot him a glare, but didn't say anything. Snow nodded slowly.

"So, what are pyreflies?" Snow asked, mainly looking at Serah, and smiled back at him.

"No one really knows how they came to be, but they're like souls. When you die, they are freed, and the memories you held go with it. If the pyreflies aren't sent to the Farplane, the become fiends. However, places like the Moonflow and the Farplane, just naturally have pyreflies."She answered.

"Farplane?" Snow questioned.

"It's a resting place for the dead." Cloud answered. Snow turned to him.

"Can anyone go there when they die?"Snow asked.

"If you accept your death or you are sent by a summoner, then yes."Cloud sighed and lay on his back, looking up at the sky. Snow nodded, and started to slowly think to himself.

Xx

Lightning sunk to her knees and sobbed. Kimberlynne gently bent down and rubbed her back in comfort. Noctis stood uncomfortable in the background, before going over to her and tried to mimic Kimberlynne's actions. After a moment, Lightning abruptly stood and backed away, eyes widened.

"No." She whispered before turning to Kimberlynne. "I understand now. I won't let you risk your life. I can't lose both of you."

"Claire, now that I have Noctis, It's not as dangerous anymore." She said, trying to sooth Lightning.

"Kimber's already started the process, Claire; we just need Zack's approval. The dangerous part is over for the time being." Noctis added. Lightning eyed Kimberlynne. She smiled.

"He won't agree until you tell him you want him back." Kimberlynne said. "He told me he'll only live for you, and if you don't want him he'll stay away."

Lightning smiled lightly, looking down to the ground. "I want him back with every fiber of my being."

"Then tell him." Noctis urged. She looked up, bleary-eyed.

"How?" She asked. Kimberlynne smiled.

"You have to figure that out by yourself, Claire."

Xx

Lightning let out a frustrated growl as she stormed to where Cloud was. She swung her fist back and slammed a punch full force into Snow's unsuspecting face, before bending down and casting a cure, fixing his nose. Snow sat up and blinked, wiping some blood of his face.

"Can I at least know what I did?" Snow asked as Serah inspected his nose further.

"No." Lightning huffed and lay down next to Cloud, who had sat up when he heard Snow's cry of pain. Cloud shook his head and picked at the fire with a stick. Snow thanked Serah for the additional care and lay back on the mat they shared and closed his eyes, Serah following suit. Kimberlynne and Noctis came back from where the originally were, and eventually lay down on their own mat. After Cloud checked Serah and Lightning, Cloud laid down next to Lightning, although facing her feet instead of her face, an exact copy of Angeal and Averia.

Cid watched with a smile, a chuckle, and the shake of the head.

Xx

Lightning closed her eyes. She loved the breeze Gongaga would always offer, even if it was so humid outside you could take a shower. She smiled and looked up at the clear blue sky. She looked down in concentration, and bursts of magic swirled around her.

Zack entwined his own fingers with Claire's, beaming down at her from his massive height. She smiled with equal caliber and tackled him into an embrace. Claire giggled, grabbing a hold of his neck and bringing him down into a kiss. Zack smiled.

"I like this type of greeting."He nuzzled her affectionately.

"Then come back." Claire murmured, snuggling into the crook of his neck. Zack lifted her head.

"You really want me back baby girl? Because once I accept Kimber's offer, I can't protect you anymore." Zack said, brushing a strand of hair away from Claire's face.

"What are you talking about?" Claire looked into Zack's eyes.

"I mean the shield will go away." He answered. Claire shook her head.

"Do you really think, that I would not take up the opportunity to get back the man that gave my life meaning all because a shield would be dispelled?" Claire said, lightly smacking the back of his head afterwards. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Baby girl, I lived for you, I died for you, and I'll gladly live and die for you again, I just need to make sure you still want me in your life. Just give me the word and I'll tell Kimber I accept. I made sure she wouldn't hurt herself." Zack said, lightly kissing her forehead. Claire smiled.

"SOLDIER boy, you better get your ass back to me soon." Claire murmured into his ear. Zack beamed and disappeared.

Xx

Snow did something he never thought he would do in his lifetime.

He woke up before Lightning AND Cloud.

Cid was the only one up, who was in the process of bickering surprisingly quiet Yuffie.

"Will ya shuddup kid? Bother Cloud he's shoulda been up by now anyway." Cid grumbled picking at the fire. Yuffie huffed.

"He'll personally have my head!" Yuffie said.

"Exactly!" Cid chuckled to himself.

"Why isn't he up yet anyway?" Snow asked quietly. Cid's laughter picked up.

"It's the Moonflow. Those three brats were always calmed by it. It's the only damn thing besides that husband of Claire's that got her to sleep throughout the night.

It took a while for either Cloud or Lightning to stir. Lightning was first, who noticed where Cloud's head was and playfully kicked her bare feet at him.

"Your feet smell." She said. Cloud chuckled.

"Yours do too." He mumbled sleepily. Lightning laughed and kicked him lightly in the face, not enough to actually hurt him. She stretched like a cat and smiled at Cid.

"Well aren't you happy?"Cid commented, lighting up a cigarette. Lightning nodded.

"I am today, Uncle Cid."Lightning nodded to herself, a confirmation in her own head.

Xx

Zack grunted. He sighed, and grunted again.

"Damnit." Zack grumbled.

"Hey Angeal, I'm lost." The original Angeal stepped out from the light.

"You're not lost. You're too worried." He said, playfully shoving him. Zack have him a look.

"What are you talking about?" Zack asked, walking closer to Angeal.

"What I mean is something's bothering you so you can't go anywhere. Now what's the matter?" Angeal said, observing the nothingness. Zack shook his head.

"I don't want to leave Claire unprotected, while I try to get through." Zack mumbled, looking away from Angeal.

"So you want a temporary bodyguard for her."Angeal said. Zack nodded.

"I'm on it. Think of it done." Angeal disappeared.

Xx

Angeal sighed picking up the rusty Buster Sword and swinging it over his back.

Xx


	14. Chapter Thirteen The Stigma

**I'm baaaccck :] Sorry it took so long, and now there's an FFXIII-2 (Which I have been playing religiously) but oh well. My friggin story.**

_Chapter 13- The Stigma_

Sazh's definition of paradise was not exactly the desert from hell these new people had brought him to. Not only had he been swallowed whole by a huge ass worm, but now he was covered in slobber and no one was willing to stand more than twenty feet away from him. Snow was closest to him, trying to be nice while not heaving, and was also having quite the trouble not breaking out into a rumbling laughter.

"We're almost there, and you can bathe then, Sazh." Kimberlynne said in an attempt to cheer him up, but nothing could work until he actually stepped foot in that shower. Damn stupid Sandworms.

"Sir Noctis, Lady Kimberlynne." Two oddly dressed men were standing in the middle of nowhere, an odd machine waiting behind them. Sazh couldn't understand anymore of this, since a probably very lovely, but _very_ confusing language was spoken. It continued for about Five whole painful minutes, before Noctis took Initiative and hopped onto the machine.

"This is a hover. Claire told me you have a thing for machines?" Kimberlynne asked. Sazh nodded, and she beamed.

"Me too!

Xx

Turns out Kimberlynne and Noctis were the leaders of a race that was called the Al Bhed. Sazh was expecting some royal treatment, you know, like normal leaders do. But _no, _they wanted equal treatment for everyone. Sazh was all for that any other day, you know, when he hadn't been swallowed whole by a _worm._ As he was wallowing in self-pity, he trudged off to the shower, which would eventually come to love and make him stop grumbling. A line of worm saliva trailed after him.

Xx

Meanwhile as Sazh bitched and moaned about literally being eaten alive, Snow took initiative and got lost in Home, the Al Bhed base. Everything look the damn same. Damn.

Snow eventually took an elevator, and that sent him into the top of the base, where Noctis was speaking the odd language again to some man. He turned and eyed Snow a moment, gesturing to a seat. Not knowing what to do, Snow plopped himself into the nearest chair, which turned out to be very comfy.

Cid came careening in, yelling in the odd language, effectively snapping Noctis out of the conversation with the man. He responded with a much calmer tone, and if Snow knew any better, asked about something. Cid answered much more professionally, before tromping out of the room. Noctis merely shook his head, a smile of mirth on his face before repeating whatever Cid had said to the man. The unnamed man shook his head and left. Noctis's attention turned to Snow.

"Sorry, what did you need?" He asked. Snow shook his head.

"Oh, I didn't need anything, I just got lost. Sorry." He answered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't worry, I got lost my first time too. When Cid gets everything in order, we leave for Gaia." Noctis said, "I can help you find your room again, if you like."

"Thanks. By the way, what do you mean your first time? Weren't you born here like Kimberlynne?" Snow asked as they walked back to the elevator.

"No. I was born on Pulse. I was in Crystal Stasis when Kimber found me. I assumed the role of leader when I married her. Cid was Leader before me, and couldn't wait to pawn the job off to me." Noctis answered.

"So, you're not Al Bhed?"

"I am, you could say I'm just slightly older."

Snow paused walking for a moment. "Why couldn't Kimberlynne just assume the role?" Noctis paused with him.

"Tradition purposes. Women can only be Leader if they are widowed." Noctis resumed walking, and Snow followed.

Xx

"And theen, I skillfully brought down the Malboro all by myself…." Yuffie blabbed on about, providing the only conversation to be offered. Snow thought Cloud was going to snap at any minute, so he made sure to stay away from his general vicinity. Although he probably couldn't do much damage with Averia in his arms, clinging so hard she was very close to choking him. He didn't seem to mind, however.

"Brat, shut the hell up." Cid drawled, cutting her off. Yuffie's eyes narrowed.

"Don't be angry at me just because you ran out of cigarettes. You should quit that anyway. Did you know your lungs get all black and gross when you smoke…." She started.

"A price I am willing to pay." Cid muttered under his breath and nudged Kimberlynne as Yuffie rambled on. Kimberlynne merely rolled her eyes in response. Angeal walked closely to his mother, almost clinging to her leg as they walked. A feather fell and landed on his head, and he couldn't hold back the shriek of surprise when it tickled his nose. It caused everyone to go into a defensive stance, until they realized it was only a feather. Lightning sighed as she removed the feather from Angeal's nose and paused to study it.

A rough cough was heard, the kind to gain attention. Lightning's head snapped back to behind her. The original Angeal stood there, the rusty Buster Sword slung on his back. Her eyes widened in recognition. He nodded lightly, before walking slightly closer to her.

"I've been sent to watch over you." He said, his wing fluttering slightly.

"More like babysit." Hope muttered. It was quite obvious to everyone but Lightning that Hope had quite a crush on her, and was quite disappointed that her heart already belonged to a dead man. Lightning merely nodded at Angeal.

Xx

Sighing, Snow walked to his room. Some questions of his were answered but he still had so many. Cid had informed that if everyone went and rested up they would be in Edge in no time. As he was walking, the grey flooring turned a bright white. He looked up. Everything was white.

"What the hell?" Snow muttered to himself.

"You had some questions?" A voice behind him called, "Don't look behind you."

"You're Zack, aren't you?" The voice chuckled in response.

"Yeah" Zack finally answered.

"Why, did you think getting yourself killed would give Lightning a better life?" Snow murmured more to himself.

"Who the hell is Lightning?" Zack's voice called out. Snow's face twisted into an expression of confusion before realizing his error.

"Claire." Snow clarified. The answer he received has a booming laugh.

"Why the hell would you call her that? She get even quicker?" Zack laughed louder. His calmed himself after a moment, voicing the answer Snow had been looking for the whole time he knew of Zack's existence. _Why? Why did you do what you did? Why did you leave?_

"They wanted me, not Claire. I didn't exactly plan to destroy the majority of the Shinra army, but they said they wanted her, and would take her hostage if I refused to cooperate. I was pissed, and confused, and I really no idea what the hell I was doing. By the time I had nearly taken them all out, but I was just too exhausted to fight back, and that's when I realized how stupid I actually had been. But my death caused what I wanted to happen, Cloud told me at least. Shinra's been off their back ever since." Zack chuckled, "Cloud tried to punch the lights out of me when I told him this."

"You," Snow paused for a moment. "You, would just throw away your life that easily?"

"For Claire? I would do anything. Even die multiple times." Zack said as everything returned to normal for Snow.

Xx

Snow could only think about Zack's answer. Would he really die multiple times for Lightning? Would Snow himself actually be able to die _multiple_ times for Serah? Did he even deserve Serah for even having to think about it?

Cloud made himself known but banging on Snow's door. Snow made a grunting noise to recognize his presence. Cloud barged in, pausing in the middle of the room.

"Cid said we'd be In Edge in about 10 minutes." He said, before stalking moodily back to the door.

"Cloud," Snow called out, slowly rising up from the bed. Cloud paused, and turned to face Snow again.

"I thought Zack gave you the Buster Sword." Snow said, the question lingering. Cloud stiffened at Zack's name, but relaxed a bit afterwards.

"He did." Cloud answered.

"Then why don't you have it?" Snow edged on.

"I gave it back." Cloud stated simply. Confusion became etched upon Snow's face. Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Zack asked me for it back, so I gave it back." He said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world to give a dead man back his sword, and proceeded to stalk moodily out of the room.

Xx

Lightning's vision blurred. Confused, she grasped her head in her hands, before retracting back her left hand. Eyeing her left hand, she noticed a black sticky substance now coated her fingertips. Cloud's hand appeared out of nowhere and grasped her wrist, before observing he fingers. His eyes widened and immediately snapped up to her forehead. Gently, he move her fridge a little to view the skin. His eyes softened.

"What is it?" Lightning prodded gently. Cloud hesitated.

"The stigma" He answered quietly, "Don't push yourself, okay? If you need a break just say so." Lightning's eyes narrowed.

"Just how bad is this stigma?" Lightning all but hissed. Cloud glanced at her, and uncomfortable look in his eyes.

"It doesn't look good." Vincent, being his normal self, appeared out of nowhere. Cloud turned to him.

"Maybe you know more than I do about this." Cloud said, while Lightning's eye twitched.

"It looks to be genetic, that's all I can say I might know that you don't, since you've researched it for so long." Vincent answered. Cloud's face scrunched up in confusion.

"How so?" He asked.

"Well, her kids have it."

"They WHAT?" Lightning hissed, grabbing a lock of Cloud's hair and pulling him down to her height. "Just what the hell is this stigma, and answer me fully before your beautiful golden locks are burned to ash."

"…."

Xx

"He still sugarcoated it honey, it ain't gonna be a walk through the park." A black haired woman said and she put a cold compress to Lightning's head. "I'm just shocked to why it came up so suddenly. I wonder if it really is the Lifestream."

"I don't think so, Why would the Lifestream start hurting people now? After thousands of years?" Angeal said, eyeing Lightning's head. Zack would _not_ be happy about this. The woman merely shrugged in response and continued tending to Lightning. Hope was at her side, along with Angeal. Averia had tottered off to go play with a little brown haired girl. Snow and Serah had been pushed off to a corner. A brown haired boy was standing at the doorway, eyeing Lightning. Cloud walked in, patting the boys head. The boy's face lit up.

"Hi Cloud! I didn't know you were back yet." Cloud smiled weakly, and nodded.

"Claire, this is Denzel. Denzel, this is my sisters Claire and," Cloud pointed to Serah, "And Serah." The boy waved shyly. "Marlene is the girl." Cloud said and went to observe Lightning's head.

Xx

"He's ready." Was all Angeal said the next day.

"Already?" Kimberlynne asked. Lightning could only gaze on in wonder.

**Sorry, I know I said it would be longer, but I only have one more installment I would like to put, then I'm done! :D**


	15. Chapter Sixteen- A New Beginning

**X I'm baaaaaackk…. and this will be my last installment. Thanks for hanging through this terribly written story!**

**X I'm sorry it's really short, but it's done now!**

_Chapter 14- A New Beginning_

Zack couldn't say he knew what to do, because he didn't have a _clue _about what he was doing. He sat, did some squats, tried walking around, and then sitting again.

"Ready?" Zack looked around, before standing. He nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Xx

Before Zack, stood the entire Shinra Army.

"Oh."

Xx

Snow was quietly sitting in a living room with Cloud. The television was on, but neither was really watching.

"So, are those your kids?" He asked, not quite used to being alone with Cloud in a room. Cloud shrugged.

"I guess you could call them that."

Xx

"You ready yet?" Angeal asked as Lightning pulled on her remaining glove.

"Yeah, what am I supposed to be doing?" Angeal took the Buster Sword off his back and held it out to her.

"You, the closest person to Zack on Earth will bring his most prized possession to the place of his death, a statement to the planet that he is wanted among the living. As you do this, Zack will face what cause of his death. If you both succeed, Zack will return. Once you take this, you're accepting the challenge and initiating Zack's." Angeal spoke calmly. Lightning reached out, but hesitated.

"Go ahead. Zack's waiting, you know." Angeal said, nudging the handle to her. Lightning smiled, and took the hilt of the Buster Sword. The rust of the blade slowly faded as Lightning positioned it on her back.

"Let's go."

Xx

"I'm going with you." There was no room for argument in Cloud's voice, as Lightning and Angeal tried to quietly slip through the door.

"Me too!" Serah called out from another room. She came in, Snow in tow.

"We'll go as a family." Kimberlynne and Noctis followed in behind Snow, along with Angeal and Averia.

Lightning smiled, and nodded.

Xx

"I swear, when he comes back I'm killing him." Lightning muttered under her breath as she made it towards Zack's dying place. The Buster Sword was almost as tall as her, and it had proved itself difficult as she hauled it up hills. Kimberlynne looked on sympathetically.

"Aww, we're almost there!" she said, giving Lightning a pat on her back.

It was silent for the rest of the trip. Lightning and Cloud looked ahead; staring at Zack's dying spot. Lightning looked at Cloud for a moment. He smiled weakly, taking her hand and squeezing it lightly. She smiled back. Taking a deep breath, Lightning walked toward it. When she reached it, she slowly took the Buster Sword off her back, and put it back at the spot Cloud had originally left it.

A white light came from the Buster Sword, and then nothing happened.

"And now, we wait."

Lightning sat down next to the sword. Everyone else plopped down somewhere around the area.

"How long will it take?" Serah asked from her position on the ground next to Snow. Kimberlynne shrugged.

"Depends on the person, it could take up to a month before Zack wakes up." Noctis answered for her. "He might not even wake up." Lightning stiffened visibly.

"It's okay, you know." Cloud said. Lightning looked up at him.

"He's too stubborn. He'll make it through." Cloud smiled lightly and Lightning smiled back.

"Yeah, I know." She said quietly.

Xx

It took a couple of hours, before pyreflies started to gather. They clustered around The Buster Sword and then started to mold into a human like form. At first his face appeared, and the rest of his body followed. Lightning immediately crawled over to Zack's lifeless form. His body no longer resembled Swiss cheese. All the bullet wounds had vanished, but Zack still was not breathing.

Kimberlynne squealed in delight.

"He passed!" Lightning looked back at her.

"Then why is he still dead?" Lightning asked, placing her head on his chest, listening for a heartbeat that was not there.

"This is the part that takes time. We just have to wait for him to wake up." Noctis said.

Xx

When Sazh reached civilization, he didn't expect following Vincent and Yuffie to locate the missing Farron family. But when the little girl, Marlene, looked like she was about to cry at the sudden disappearance of Cloud, Sazh found himself volunteering to find him.

"You don't have to do this. Cloud usually disappears without saying anything. He'll come back in a couple of days." He remembered Tifa saying.

"I have some questions that need answering" was all that Vincent had said in return to her. What questions he had, if any, Sazh wasn't able to figure out.

When they found them, Sazh first noticed Lightning by the body of a large black-haired man. Vincent had gone up to Cloud, and they had engaged in their normal one-word answer conversation. Yuffie had flittered over to Angeal and Averia. Sazh found himself heading over to Snow.

"Who is that?" He asked, motioning over to the body.

"That, is Zack Fair."

Xx

Night had fallen since Vincent, Yuffie, and Sazh's appearance. Cloud had helped gather wood, and Yuffie happily used a Fire materia to light the fire. It was then, when Angeal started to disappear.

"I have to go now, take care of Zack now." Angeal said to Lightning she smiled and nodded as Angeal slowly faded into pyreflies. A loud inhale was heard and Lightning whipped her head around to face Zack. It was faint, but the gradual rise of Zack's chest was now visible. Zack was breathing.

His eyes slowly opened as the world came back into focus. Claire was the first thing he saw, and he was glad.

"Zack?" She called out to him. He smiled weakly.

"I'm back Baby Girl." Zack forced out. Claire squealed and tackled him into a hug. Zack laughed and slowly sat up, grunting. He kissed her slowly.

"Daddy!" Angeal and Averia clambered up onto his lap and joined the hug.

"I guess the soldier girl found her soldier boy." Sazh said aloud, and everyone laughed.

"Oh yeah, about that. I'm all for you getting a day job, but we need to talk about joining the _Guardian Corps."_


End file.
